Bahá’ís (Destiny of)

I, for my part, am determined to reinforce the impulse that impels its members forward to meet their destiny. The Founders of their Faith survey from the Kingdom on high the range of their achievements, acclaim their progress, and are ever ready to speed their eventual triumph.

— 23 —

Bahá’ís — New (On Admittance of New Applicants)

He has noted with care what you had written him regarding the question of admittance of applicants into the Cause. This is certainly a matter which calls for the utmost tact, wisdom and consideration on the part of Bahá’í Assemblies. While, as he himself has repeatedly stressed, a uniform procedure should be adopted and followed whereby every applicant should be required to express his whole-hearted and unconditional acceptance of the essential verities of the Cause, great care should also be taken not to insist on matters of a secondary importance which the newcomer cannot, for obvious reasons, fully grasp and apprehend at the beginning. Once the applicant has been admitted in the Community with a clear understanding of the duties and responsibilities, and essential implications which such membership entails, there would be no difficulty for him in gradually adjusting his whole ideas according to the requirements set forth in the Teachings. The process of becoming a Bahá’í is necessarily slow and gradual. The essential is not that the beginner should have a full and detailed knowledge of the Cause, a thing which is obviously impossible in the vast majority of cases, but that he should, by an act of his own will, be willing to uphold and follow the truth and guidance set forth in the Teachings, and thus open his heart and mind to the reality of the Manifestation.

— 24 —

Bahá’ís — New (On Presenting the Master’s Will to New Applicants)

Concerning the best method of presenting the Master’s Will to the newcomers, Shoghi Effendi is of the opinion that the N.S.A. should first make some suitable extracts from the Testament and to send these to all the local Assemblies for their use, so that there may be full unity in circulating the provisions of the Will among the new believers. The problem of choosing such excerpts is left entirely to the discretion of the N.S.A. The main thing, as it appears to the Guardian, is that the full station of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh and ‘Abdu’l-Bahá be clearly explained and that the origin, nature and working of the Administrative Order of the Faith be clearly stated. The full implications of such a recognition are evidently beyond the comprehension of any new believer. Such a knowledge can be acquired gradually and only when the essentials of the Faith have been clearly recognized and adequately understood.

— 25 —

Bahá’ís — New (Qualifications of a New Believer)

When a person becomes a Bahá’í, he gives up the past only in the sense that he is a part of this new and living Faith of God, and must seek to pattern himself, in act and thought, along the lines laid down by Bahá’u’lláh. The fact that he is by origin a Jew or a Christian, a black man or a white man, is not important any more, but, as you say, lends color and charm to the Bahá’í community in that it demonstrates unity in diversity.

— 26 —

Bahá’ís — New (The “Two Extremes” in Bringing in New Bahá’ís)

The believers must discriminate between the two extremes of bringing people into the Cause before they have fully grasped its fundamentals and making it too hard for them, expecting too much of them, before they accept them. This requires truly keen judgment, as it is unfair to people to allow them to embrace a movement the true meaning of which they have not fully grasped. It is equally unfair to expect them to be perfect Bahá’ís before they can enter the Faith. Many teaching problems arise out of these two extremes…

— 27 —

Bahá’ís (Two Kinds of)

There are two kinds of Bahá’ís, one might say: those whose religion is Bahá’í and those who live for the Faith. Needless to say if we can belong to the latter category, if we can be in the vanguard of heroes, martyrs and saints, it is more praiseworthy in the sight of God.

— 28 —

Bahá’í Way of Life (The Strength of the Cause)

It is good for the Bahá’ís to learn that being a Bahá’í is essentially an inner thing, or way of life, and not dependent on fixed patterns. Important as our organized Institutions are, they are not the Faith itself. The strength of the Cause grows no matter how much disrupted its activities may temporarily be. This we see over and over again, in lands where the Faith has been temporarily banned; at times when the believers are persecuted and even killed; where they are serving all alone or scattered and isolated. So it has been a stimulating experience for the American believers to be without their schools for a few years, rather than a depressing one.

— 29 —

Bahá’u’lláh (In accepting)

In accepting Bahá’u’lláh you have accepted Christ in His appearance as the Father, as He Himself so clearly foretold. The Catholic Church does not believe this; on the contrary, it still awaits the return of Christ. If you decide, in order to be buried next to your dear husband, to return to the Church, you either would have to, in good faith, deny Bahá’u’lláh or you would be just using the church as a means to satisfy a desire of your own, which would certainly not be an upright and conscientious thing to do.

When you think that your husband’s soul is now free of the limitations of this world, and that he no doubt is beginning to see religious truth in its true light and to appreciate the station of Bahá’u’lláh, you should ask yourself whether he would wish you to leave the truth for this day and re-enter the church just for the sake of your dust being near his dust. Your spirit, when you pass away, will be near his spirit; of what importance, then, is the body? He will pray for your guidance in this matter.

— 30 —

Believers, New (Accept Cause Without Qualifications)

The believers, and particularly those who have not had sufficient experience in teaching, should be very careful in the way they present the teachings of the Cause. Sincerity, devotion and Faith are not the sole conditions of successful teaching. Tactfulness, extreme caution and wisdom are equally important. We should not be in a hurry when we announce the message to the public and we should be careful to present the teachings in their entirety and not to alter them for the sake of others. Allegiance to the Faith cannot be partial and half-hearted. Either we should accept the Cause without any qualification whatsoever or cease calling ourselves Bahá’ís. The new believers should be made to realize that it is not sufficient for them to accept some aspects of the teachings and reject those which cannot suit their mentality in order to become fully recognized and active followers of the Faith. In this way all sorts of misunderstandings will vanish and the organic unity of the Cause will be preserved.

— 31 —

Believers, Removal of

Concerning the removal of believers I feel that such a vitally important matter should be given the most serious consideration and preferably be referred to the National Assembly for further consideration and final decision. We should be slow to accept and reluctant to remove. I fully approve and whole-heartedly and unreservedly uphold the principle to which you refer that personalities should not be made centers around which the community may revolve but they should be subordinated under all conditions and however great their merits to the properly constituted Assemblies. You and your co-workers can never over-estimate or over-emphasize this cardinal principle of Bahá’í Administration.

— 32 —

Bible (Authenticity of the)

As to the question raised by the Racine Assembly in connection with Bahá’u’lláh’s statement in the Gleanings concerning the sacrifice of Ishmael; although His statement does not agree with that made in the Bible, Genesis 12:9, the friends should unhesitatingly, and for reasons that are only too obvious, give precedence to the sayings of Bahá’u’lláh which, it would be pointed out, is fully corroborated by the Qur’án, which book is more authentic than the Bible, including both the New and Old Testaments. The Bible is not wholly authentic, and in this respect not to be compared with the Qur’án, and should be wholly subordinated to the authentic Sayings of Bahá’u’lláh.

— 33 —

Calendar (Bahá’í)

It is advisable to use both the Bahá’í dates, according to the Bahá’í Calendar, and the usual Gregorian dates as well. The friends at present are free to do as they please.

— 34 —

Caliphate and Imámate

Both Caliphate and Imámate mean successorship. Either term could be used.

— 35 —

Catastrophe (The Apocalyptic Upheaval)

We have no indication of exactly what nature the apocalyptic upheaval will be; it might be another war … but as students of our Bahá’í Writings, it is clear that the longer the ‘Divine Physician’ (i.e. Bahá’u’lláh) is withheld from healing the ills of the world, the more severe will be the crisis, and the more terrible the sufferings of the patient.

— 36 —

Civil Courts (Disputes)

The Guardian wishes to emphasize the importance of avoiding (reference to civil courts) of cases of dispute between believers, even in non-Bahá’í issues. It is the Assembly’s function to endeavor to settle amicably such disputes, both in order to safeguard the fair name and prestige of the Cause, and to acquire the necessary experience for the extension of its functions in the future.

— 37 —

Civil Elections (Voting in)

No Bahá’í vote for an officer, no Bahá’í participation in the affairs of the Republic, shall involve acceptance of a program or policy that contravenes any vital principle, spiritual or social, of the Faith.

No vote cast, or office undertaken, by a Bahá’í should necessarily constitute acceptance, by the voter or office holder, of the entire program of any political party. No Bahá’í can be regarded as either a Republican or Democrat, as such. He is above all else, the supporter of the principles enunciated by Bahá’u’lláh, with which, I am firmly convinced, the program of no political party is completely harmonious.

— 38 —

Committee Appointments (Assembly Members)

Regarding the non-appointment of Assembly members to membership on National Committees, the Guardian firmly believes that no such principle should be recognised. Those who are best fitted for the specific work assigned to the Committees should be elected irrespective of their membership on either National or local Assemblies. The greater the pressure on those who shoulder both Committee and Assembly responsibilities, the greater the reward and the richer the blessings vouchsafed to those who willingly and gratefully sustain this double burden.

— 39 —

Committees’ Responsibilities

He feels that Committees must assume more responsibility and exercise freedom of choice and judgment in electing their officers, and function as a corporate body with a corporate spirit. More especially so as now that the Cause is growing in numbers, and its responsibilities are being multiplied, National committees are acquiring added importance and must seek, ever increasingly, to follow the pattern of Bahá’u’lláh and assume responsibility for the election of their officers. These committees must develop, become mature, and forge ahead courageously relying more on united effort and less on personal leadership, as is now the case with Local and National Assemblies.

— 40 —

Contribution

As to the idea of ‘giving what one can afford’, this does by no means put a limit or even exclude the possibility of self-sacrifice. There can be no limit to one’s contributions to the national fund. The more one can give the better it is, especially when such offerings necessitate the sacrifice of other wants and desires on the part of the donor. The harder the sacrifice the more meritorious will it be of course in the eye of God. For after all it is not so much the quantity of one’s offerings that matters, but rather the measure of deprivation that such offerings entail.

— 41 —

Contributions (Lifting the Burden of Misery from Mankind)

In the first place every believer is free to follow the dictates of his own conscience as regards the manner in which to spend his own money. Secondly, we must always bear in mind that there are so few Bahá’ís in the world, relative to the world’s population, and so many people in need, that even if all of us gave all we had, it would not alleviate more than an infinitesimal amount of suffering. This does not mean we must not help the needy, we should; but our contributions to the Faith are the surest way of lifting once and for all time the burden of hunger and misery from mankind, for it is only through the System of Bahá’u’lláh — Divine in origin — that the world can be gotten on its feet, and want, fear, hunger, war, etc., be eliminated. Non-Bahá’ís cannot contribute to our work or do it for us; so really our first obligation is to support our own teaching work, as this will lead to the healing of the nations.

— 42 —

Contributions Are Voluntary

In connection with the Institution of the National Fund and the budgetary system set forth in the minutes of the National Spiritual Assembly, I feel urged to remind you of the necessity of ever bearing in mind the cardinal principle that all contributions to the Fund are to be purely and strictly voluntary in character. It should be made clear and evident to every one that any form of compulsion, however slight and indirect, strikes at the very root principle underlying the formation of the Fund ever since its inception. While appeals of a general character, carefully worded and moving and dignified in tone are welcome under all circumstances, it should be left entirely to the discretion of every conscientious believer to decide upon the nature, the amount, and purpose of his or her contribution for the propagation of the Cause.

— 43 —

Covenant (Meaning of Bahá’í)

As regards the meaning of the Bahá’í Covenant: The Guardian considers the existence of two forms of Covenant both of which are explicitly mentioned in the literature of the Cause. First is the Covenant that every Prophet makes with humanity or, more definitely, with His people that they will accept and follow the coming Manifestation who will be the reappearance of His reality. The second form of Covenant is such as the one Bahá’u’lláh made with His people that they should accept the Master. This is merely to establish and strengthen the succession of the series of Lights that appear after every Manifestation. Under the same category falls the Covenant the Master made with the Bahá’ís that they should accept His administration after Him.

The Most Great Covenant is different from the Everlasting Covenant.

— 44 —

Covenant Breakers (Expulsion and Reinstatement of)

The Guardian, like the Master before him, has not considered it advisable to as yet permit any person or Assembly to put another person out of the Cause of God. There is a sharp distinction between depriving a believer of his voting rights, which is a severe disciplinary measure and not a spiritual sanction, and pronouncing a former believer to be a truly spiritually diseased soul, a soul in the condition the Master referred to when, in His last cable to America before His ascension, He said: ‘He who sitteth with a leper catcheth leprosy.’ The Guardian has, within the last few years, considered the National Assemblies strong enough to wield the instrument of sanction in the sense of depriving a Bahá’í of his voting rights. But no one but himself can pronounce a person to be in that diseased condition we call ‘Covenant Breaking’ and no one but he can reinstate a Covenant Breaker. No National Assembly has been given this right and cannot therefore review the question or reinstate anyone…

— 45 —

Covenant Breakers (Shun)

Bahá’u’lláh and the Master in many places and very emphatically have told us to shun entirely all Covenant breakers as they are afflicted with what we might try and define as a contagious spiritual disease; they have also told us, however, to pray for them. These souls are not lost forever. In the Aqdas, Bahá’u’lláh says that God will forgive Mírzá Yaḥyá if he repents. It follows, therefore, that God will forgive any soul if he repents. Most of them don’t want to repent, unfortunately. If the leaders can be forgiven it goes without saying that their followers can also be forgiven…

Also, it has nothing to do with unity in the Cause; if a man cuts a cancer out of his body to preserve his health and very life, no one would suggest that for the sake of unity it should be reintroduced into the otherwise healthy organism. On the contrary, what was once a part of him has so radically changed as to have become a poison.

— 46 —

Crimson Book (The)

Unfortunately it would seem that the knowledge ‘which could largely eliminate fear’ has not been disclosed or identified by Bahá’u’lláh, so we do not know what it is.

However, what Bahá’u’lláh did not elaborate but what He meant by the ‘world’ recorded in the Crimson Book was the power of the Covenant.

The ‘Crimson Book’ refers to the Book of His Covenant, and the reference above means the power for unity which the Covenant possesses and radiates. On page 238 of ‘God Passes By’ you will find the cross-reference to the ‘Crimson Book’ and the ‘Epistle to the Son of the Wolf.’

— 47 —

Criticism

When criticism and harsh words arise within a Bahá’í community, there is no remedy except to put the past behind one, and persuade all concerned to turn over a new leaf, and for the sake of God and His Faith refrain from mentioning the subjects which have led to misunderstanding and inharmony. The more the friends argue back and forth and maintain, each side, that their point of view is the right one, the worse the whole situation becomes.

When we see the condition the world is in today, we must surely forget these utterly insignificant internal disturbances, and rush, unitedly, to the rescue of humanity. You should urge your fellow Bahá’ís to support you in a strong effort to suppress every critical thought and every harsh word, in order to let the spirit of Bahá’u’lláh flow into the entire community, and unite it in His love and in His service.

— 48 —

Criticism (On)

Vicious criticism is indeed a calamity. But its root is lack of faith in the system of Bahá’u’lláh, i.e., the Administrative Order — and lack of obedience to Him — for He has forbidden it! If the Bahá’ís would follow the Bahá’í laws in voting, in electing, in serving and in abiding by Assembly decisions, all this waste of strength through criticizing others could be diverted into cooperation and achieving the Plan…

— 49 —

Daniel, The Prophecy of

Regarding the Prophecy of Daniel: The passage in Esselmont should be changed to state that this prophecy refers to the one-hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Bahá’u’lláh, in the Garden of Riḍván, Baghdád — reference to this can be found in ‘The Passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá in quotation from two of His Tablets.

— 50 —

Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh

With reference to … the Dispensation of Bahá’u’lláh, he wishes me to explain that although ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s station is not that of a Manifestation of God, nevertheless supplications may be addressed to Him. It is essential, however, that every believer should realize that while doing so he is directing his thoughts toward the Master as an intermediary between him and the Manifestation, and not as the Source of Divine Revelation and Spiritual Guidance. Provided this distinction is clearly established, there can be no harm or objection in addressing prayers to ‘Abdu’l-Bahá.

— 51 —

Disputes, Individual — (Consultation with Assembly)

Regarding consultation: Any person can refer a matter to the Assembly for consultation whether the other person wishes to or not. In matters which affect the Cause the Assembly should, if it deems it necessary, intervene even if both sides don’t want it to, because the whole purpose of the Assemblies is to protect the Faith, the Communities and the individual Bahá’ís as well.

— 52 —

Drama — Manifestations (Dramatic Works)

With reference to your question whether the Figures of the Báb and Bahá’u’lláh should be made to appear as characters in dramatic works written by the believers, Shoghi Effendi’s opinion is that such an attempt to dramatize the Manifestations would be highly disrespectful, and hence should be avoided by the friends, even in the case of the Master. Besides it would be practically impossible to carry out such a plan faithfully, and in a dignified and befitting manner.

— 53 —

Drama of the Faith

The Faith can certainly be dramatized, but two things must be remembered: No personal presentation of the Báb, Bahá’u’lláh or the Master, only their Words can be used, but no figure must represent Them; great dignity must be the keynote.

— 54 —

Economic Teachings

With regard to your wish for reorganizing your business along Bahá’í lines, Shoghi Effendi deeply appreciates the spirit that has permitted you to make such a suggestion. But he feels nevertheless that the time has not yet come for any believer to bring about such a fundamental change in the economic structure of our society, however restricted may be the field for such an experiment. The economic teachings of the Cause, though well known in their main outline, have not as yet been sufficiently elaborated and systematized to allow anyone to make an exact and thorough application of them even on a restricted scale.

— 55 —

Economics — Bahá’í

As you say, the Writings are not so rich on this subject and many issues at present baffling the minds of the world are not even mentioned. The primary consideration is the spirit that has to permeate our economic life, and this will gradually crystallize itself into definite institutions and principles that will help to bring about the ideal condition foretold by Bahá’u’lláh.

No, Bahá’u’lláh did not bring a complete system of economics to the world. Profit sharing is recommended as a solution to one form of economic problems. There is nothing in the teachings against some kind of capitalism; its present form, though, would require adjustments to be made.

There are practically no technical teachings on economics in the Cause, such as banking, the price system, and others. The Cause is not an economic system, nor its Founders be considered as having been technical economists. The contribution of the Faith to this subject is essentially indirect, as it consists of the application of spiritual principles to our present-day economic system. Bahá’u’lláh has given us a few basic principles which should guide future Bahá’í economists in establishing such institutions which will adjust the economic relationships of the world…

Social inequality is the inevitable outcome of the natural inequality of man. Human beings are different in ability and should, therefore, be different in their social and economic standing. Extremes of wealth and poverty should, however, be abolished…

The Master has definitely stated that wages should be unequal, simply because that men are unequal in their ability and hence should receive wages that would correspond to their varying capacities and resources.

— 56 —

Economic Teachings

As regards the activities of the economic committee of the National Assembly; Shoghi Effendi fully sympathizes with the desire of some of the members to see the Committee find ways and means to put into practice the economic teachings of the Cause, as explained in some of the recorded Writings and Sayings of Bahá’u’lláh and the Master. But he believes that the time is not yet ripe for such activities. First we have to study the economic teachings in the light of modern problems more thoroughly so that we may advocate what the Founders of the Faith say and not what we conjecture from Their Writings. There is great difference between sounding a great general principle and finding its application to actual prevailing conditions. Secondly, the Cause is not financially in a position to launch itself in such undertakings at present. Such plans need great financial backing to be worked out in a permanent form. In time, Shoghi Effendi hopes all these things will come to pass. For the present we have to consolidate our basic institutions and spread the teachings and spirit of the Faith among the public.

— 57 —

Education (On Inability of Modern Education to Produce a Mature Mind)

People today indeed do tend to be very superficial in their thinking, and it would seem as if the educational systems in use are sorely lacking in ability to produce a mature mind in a person who has reached supposedly adult life! All the outside influences that surround the individual seem to have an intensely distracting effect, and it is a hard job to get the average person to do any deep thinking or even a little meditation on the problems facing him and the world at large.

Over and over again Bahá’u’lláh cried out against the heedlessness of humanity, and warns of the fate such an attitude must lead to. Did we not know what God plans to, and will do, with the world in the future, we should certainly be as hopeless as many of the best thinkers of our generation have become.

— 58 —