Quote of the Day

[arthra]

Turn ye away from all that is on earth and seek none else but Me. I am the Sun of Wisdom and the Ocean of Knowledge. I cheer the faint and revive the dead. I am the guiding Light that illumineth the way. I am the royal Falcon on the arm of the Almighty. I unfold the drooping wings of every broken bird and start it on its flight.

(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 169)



The Heavenly Wise One proclaimeth! A harsh word is like unto a sword, but gentle speech is like unto milk. The children of the world attain to knowledge and better themselves through this. The Tongue of Wisdom says: Whosoever possesses Me not, has nothing. Pass by whatever exists in this world, and find Me. I am the sun of perception and the ocean of science, I revive the withered ones and quicken the dead. I am that light which illumines the path of insight. I am the falcon on the hand of the Almighty. I bear healing in My wings, and teach the knowledge of soaring to the heaven of truth

(Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 132)



I am the Primal Point from which have been generated all created things. I am the Countenance of God Whose splendour can never be obscured, the Light of God Whose radiance can never fade. Whoso recognizeth Me, assurance and all good are in store for him, and whoso faileth to recognize Me, infernal fire and all evil await him...

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 12)



It is incumbent upon you to unveil the covering and to witness the Beauty of the Almighty! Ye shall surely see the lights rising in those parts, as ye have already seen them. Ye shall surely behold a Pillar of Fire extending upward to the Supreme Apex and it will call unto you with the most wonderful expression and will address you, saying:

"I am the Ancient Light! I am the Lord of the Exalted Kingdom! I am the Star shining forth unto the horizon of the hearts of the people of Oneness!"

(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v2, p. 283)

 

[arthra]

O thou whose heart is soaring in the sky of the love of God!

Praise be unto Him whose light hath risen, whose appearance hath become exalted, whose signs are promulgated and whose evidences are fulfilled. The tongue of the realities of all things hath uttered: "Glory be to my God, the El-BAHA!" Thanks for His manifest Beauty and for His Great Splendor! -- for He hath quickened mankind with the spirit of guidance and hath rendered clear the White Path of Gifts, through the arguments which are brilliant and clear to the hearts of the intelligent, and whereby these hearts are moved, enlightened, illuminated and become cognizant of the Mighty Message [1] in this Manifest Day of the Manifestation of the Honorable Station [2] when the mystery of existence flows just as do the souls in the bodies.
[1 The Cause.]
[2 The high station mentioned in the Koran referring to the Manifestation, BAHA'O'LLAH.]

O my God! O my God!

This, Thy servant, hath advanced toward Thee and is passionately wandering in the desert of Thy love and is walking in the path of Thy service, is expecting Thy favors, hoping for Thy bounty, depending upon Thy Kingdom and intoxicated by the wine of Thy gift.

O my God! Increase his fervor in Thy affection, his constancy in Thy praise and his ardor in Thy love.

Verily, thou art the Generous and endued with great bounty. There is no God save Thee, the Forgiving, the Merciful


(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v1, p. 77)

 

[arthra]

Exalted, immeasurably exalted, art Thou above the strivings of mortal man to unravel Thy mystery, to describe Thy glory, or even to hint at the nature of Thine Essence. For whatever such strivings may accomplish, they never can hope to transcend the limitations imposed upon Thy creatures, inasmuch as these efforts are actuated by Thy decree, and are begotten of Thine invention. The loftiest sentiments which the holiest of saints can express in praise of Thee, and the deepest wisdom which the most learned of men can utter in their attempts to comprehend Thy nature, all revolve around that Center Which is wholly subjected to Thy sovereignty, Which adoreth Thy Beauty, and is propelled through the movement of Thy Pen.

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 3)

In every age and cycle He hath, through the splendorous light shed by the Manifestations of His wondrous Essence, recreated all things, so that whatsoever reflecteth in the heavens and on the earth the signs of His glory may not be deprived of the outpourings of His mercy, nor despair of the showers of His favors.

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 61)

 

[arthra]

This quickening spirit has spontaneous emanation from the Sun of Truth, from the reality of divinity and is not a revelation or a manifestation. It is like the rays of the sun. The rays are emanations from the sun. This does not mean that the sun has become divisible; that a part of the sun has come out into space. This plant beside me has risen from the seed; therefore it is a manifestation and unfoldment of the seed. The seed, as you can see, has unfolded in manifestation and the result is this plant. Every leaf of the plant is a part of the seed. But the reality of divinity is indivisible and each individual of human kind cannot be a part of it as is often claimed. Nay, rather, the individual realities of mankind when spiritually born are emanations from the reality of divinity, just as the flame, heat and light of the sun are the effulgence of the sun and not a part of the sun itself. Therefore a spirit has emanated from the reality of divinity, and its effulgences have become visible in human entities or realities. This ray and this heat are permanent. There is no cessation in the effulgence. As long as the sun exists the heat and light will exist, and inasmuch as eternality is a property of divinity, this emanation is everlasting. There is no cessation in its outpouring. The more the world of humanity develops, the more the effulgences or emanations of divinity will become revealed, just as the stone when it becomes polished and pure as a mirror will reflect in fuller degree the glory and splendor of the sun.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 261

 

[arthra]

EACH religion teaches that a mediator is necessary between man and the Creator -- one who receives the full light of the divine splendor and radiates it over the human world, as the earth's atmosphere receives and diffuses the warmth of the sun's rays. This mediator between God and humanity has different designations though he always brings the same spiritual command.

In one era he is called Abraham, at another time Moses, again he is called Buddha, another time Jesus, and yet another time Mohammad. All turned to the divine reality for their strength. Those who followed Moses accepted him as their mediator; those who followed Zoroaster accepted him as their mediator; but all the Israelites deny Zoroaster, and the Zoroastrians deny Moses. They fail to see in both the one light. Had the Zoroastrians comprehended the reality of Zoroaster, they would have understood Moses and Jesus. Alas! the majority of men attach themselves 33 to the name of the mediator and lose sight of the real purport.

Therefore did BAHA'O'LLAH cry, "O God, deliver us from the sea of names!"

Man must turn to the light and not think that the form of the lamp is essential, for the lamp may be changed; but he who longs for light welcomes it from whatever source it comes. If the Jews had comprehended Moses, they would have accepted the Christ; but they were occupied with the name and when that name was changed they denied the reality.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 30

 

[arthra]

Every created being however revealeth His signs which are but emanations from Him and not His Own Self.

All these signs are reflected and can be seen in the book of existence, and the scrolls that depict the shape and pattern of the universe are indeed a most great book.

Therein every man of insight can perceive that which would lead to the Straight Path and would enable him to attain the Great Announcement.

Consider the rays of the sun whose light hath encompassed the world. The rays emanate from the sun and reveal its nature, but are not the sun itself.

Whatsoever can be discerned on earth amply demonstrateth the power of God, His knowledge and the outpourings of His bounty, while He Himself is immeasurably exalted above all creatures.

~ Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 60

 

[arthra]

Another asked why the teachings of all religions are expressed largely by parables and metaphors and not in the plain language of the people.

'Abdu'l-Bahá replied: --

"Divine things are too deep to be expressed by common words.

The heavenly teachings are expressed in parable in order to be understood and preserved for ages to come. When the spiritually minded dive deeply into the ocean of their meaning they bring to the surface the pearls of their inner significance. There is no greater pleasure than to study God's Word with a spiritual mind."

"The object of God's teaching to man is that man may know himself in order to comprehend the greatness of God. The Word of God is for agreement and concord.

If you go to Persia where the friends of Abha are many, you will at once realize the unifying force of God's work. They are doing their utmost to strengthen this bond of amity. There, people of different nationalities gather in one meeting and chant the divine tablets with one accord. It might be supposed that they were all brethren. We do not consider anyone a stranger, for it is said by Bahá'u'lláh 'Ye are all the rays of one sun; the fruits of one tree; and the leaves of one branch.' We desire the true brotherhood of humanity. This shall be so, and it has already begun.

Praise to be God, the Helper, the Pardoner!"

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 79

 

[arthra]

"O King! I was but a man like others, asleep upon My couch, when lo, the breezes of the All-Glorious were wafted over Me, and taught Me the knowledge of all that hath been. This thing is not from Me, but from One Who is Almighty and All-Knowing. And He bade Me lift up My voice between earth and heaven, and for this there befell Me what hath caused the tears of every man of understanding to flow.

The learning current amongst men I studied not; their schools I entered not. Ask of the city wherein I dwelt, that thou mayest be well assured that I am not of them who speak falsely. This is but a leaf which the winds of the will of thy Lord, the Almighty, the All-Praised, have stirred. Can it be still when the tempestuous winds are blowing?

Nay, by Him Who is the Lord of all Names and Attributes! They move it as they list. The evanescent is as nothing before Him Who is the Ever-Abiding.

His all-compelling summons hath reached Me, and caused Me to speak His praise amidst all people. I was indeed as one dead when His behest was uttered.

The hand of the will of thy Lord, the Compassionate, the Merciful, transformed Me."

~~~ Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 11

 

[arthra]

Should a poor and obscure person, destitute of the attire of the men of learning, address them saying: "Follow ye, O people, the Messengers of God," they would, greatly surprised at such a statement, reply: "What! Meanest thou that all these divines, all these exponents of learning, with all their authority, their pomp, and pageantry, have erred, and failed to distinguish truth from falsehood? Dost thou, and people like thyself, pretend to have comprehended that which they have not understood?"

If numbers and excellence of apparel be regarded as the criterions of learning and truth, the peoples of a bygone age, whom those of today have never surpassed in numbers, magnificence and power, should certainly be accounted a superior and worthier people....

~ Baha'u'llah, Baha'i World Faith, p. 63

 

[arthra]

O Lord! Give to the people of Baha' cleanliness and holiness in all conditions, purify and free them from all defilement, deliver them from the use of all that is execrated, liberate them from the chains of habits, so that they may be pure and free, clean and spotless, that they may be worthy servants of the Sacred Threshold and may deserve to enter into relation with God.

Deliver them from alcohol and tobacco, and save them from opium, the purveyor of madness! Make them companions of the holy breezes, in order that they may know the pleasures of the wine of the love of God, and that they may attain to the joy and the happiness of attraction to the Kingdom of ABHA!

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 584

 

[arthra]

THE PITIFUL CAUSES OF WAR, AND THE DUTY
OF EVERYONE TO STRIVE FOR PEACE


October 21st


'Abdu'l-Bahá said:


I hope you are all happy and well. I am not happy, but very sad. The news of the Battle of Benghazi grieves my heart. I wonder at the human savagery that still exists in the world! How is it possible for men to fight from morning until evening, killing each other, shedding the blood of their fellow-men: And for what object? To gain possession of a part of the earth!

Even the animals, when they fight, have an immediate and more reasonable cause for their attacks! How terrible it is that men, who are of the higher kingdom, can descend to slaying and bringing misery to their fellow-beings, for the possession of a tract of land!

The highest of created beings fighting to obtain the lowest form of matter, earth! Land belongs not to one people, but to all people. This earth is not man's home, but his tomb. It is for their tombs these men are fighting. There is nothing so horrible in this world as the tomb, the abode of the decaying bodies of men.


However great the conqueror, however many countries he may reduce to slavery, he is unable to retain any part of these devastated lands but one tiny portion -- his tomb! If more land is required for the improvement of the condition of the people, for the spread of civilization (for the substitution of just laws for brutal customs) -- surely it would be possible to acquire peaceably the necessary extension of territory.


But war is made for the satisfaction of men's ambition; for the sake of worldly gain to the few, terrible misery is brought to numberless homes, breaking the hearts of hundreds of men and women!

How many widows mourn their husbands, how many stories of savage cruelty do we hear! How many little orphaned children are crying for their dead fathers, how many women are weeping for their slain sons!
There is nothing so heart-breaking and terrible as an outburst of human savagery!


I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace.

A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content.
Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness.


When soldiers of the world draw their swords to kill, soldiers of God clasp each other's hands! So may all the savagery of man disappear by the Mercy of God, working through the pure in heart and the sincere of soul. Do not think the peace of the world an ideal impossible to attain!
Nothing is impossible to the Divine Benevolence of God.

If you desire with all your heart, friendship with every race on earth, your thought, spiritual and positive, will spread; it will become the desire of others, growing stronger and stronger, until it reaches the minds of all men.


Do not despair! Work steadily. Sincerity and love will conquer hate. How many seemingly impossible events are coming to pass in these days! Set your faces steadily towards the Light of the World. Show love to all; 'Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the heart of Man'. Take courage! God never forsakes His children who strive and work and pray! Let your hearts be filled with the strenuous desire that tranquillity and harmony may encircle all this warring world. So will success crown your efforts, and with the universal brotherhood will come the Kingdom of God in peace and goodwill.


In this room today are members of many races, French, American, English, German, Italian, brothers and sisters meeting in friendship and harmony! Let this gathering be a foreshadowing of what will, in very truth, take place in this world, when every child of God realizes that they are leaves of one tree, flowers in one garden, drops in one ocean, and sons and daughters of one Father, whose name is love!


~ Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p.

 

[arthra]

There is a point on which the philosophers and the prophets differ. The philosophers make education the test of knowledge, holding that any man who receives sufficient education can attain a state of perfection. That is to say man possesses the potentiality for every kind of progress and education enables him to bring this into the court of objectivity.

The prophets say that something else is necessary. It is true that education transforms the desert into a rose garden, the virgin forest into an orchard, saplings into trees, and single flowers into double and treble flowers, but there is a fundamental difference in men. You may know ten children of one country, in the same school, under the same master, treated and fed in the same way. One of these children may make great progress, others may remain stationary. In the innate nature there are differences of memory, perception and intelligence. There is a superior, a middle and an inferior degree which corresponds to the difference in the fundamental estates of creation. While recognizing the influence of education we must also become acquainted with the innate disposition.

The prophets are sent to educate this innate quality in humanity. They are like gardeners who sow the grain which afterward springs up in a thousand forms of advancement. The prophets are therefore the first educators of the world, the head masters of the world. However much man may advance in material civilization, if he remain ignorant of the spiritual civilization, his soul is still defaced.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 108

 

[arthra]

I hope that you will turn with unclouded eyes towards the Sun of Truth, beholding not the things of earth, lest your hearts be attracted to the worthless and passing pleasures of the world; let that Sun give you of His strength, then will not the clouds of prejudice veil His illumination from your eyes! Then will the Sun be without clouds for you.

Breathe the air of purity. May you each and all share in the Divine Bounties of the Kingdom of Heaven. May the world be for you no obstacle hiding the truth from your sight, as the human body of Christ hid His Divinity from the people of His day. May you receive the clear vision of the Holy Spirit, so that your hearts may be illumined and able to recognize the Sun of Truth shining through all material clouds, His splendour flooding the universe.

Let not the things of the body obscure the celestial light of the spirit, so that, by the Divine Bounty, you may enter with the children of God into His Eternal Kingdom.

This is my prayer for you all.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 44)

 

[arthra]

58. O SON OF MAN!
The temple of being is My throne; cleanse it of all things, that there I may be established and there I may abide.
59. O SON OF BEING!
Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent. Thy spirit is My place of revelation; cleanse it for My manifestation.
60. O SON OF MAN!
Put thy hand into My bosom, that I may rise above thee, radiant and resplendent.
61. O SON OF MAN!
Ascend unto My heaven, that thou mayest obtain the joy of reunion, and from the chalice of imperishable glory quaff the peerless wine.

 

[arthra]

Say: O King of Berlin! Give ear unto the Voice
calling from this manifest Temple: "Verily, there is
none other God but Me, the Everlasting, the Peerless,
the Ancient of Days." Take heed lest pride debar thee
from recognizing the Dayspring of Divine Revelation,
lest earthly desires shut thee out, as by a veil, from the
Lord of the Throne above and of the earth below. Thus
counselleth thee the Pen of the Most High. He, verily,
is the Most Gracious, the All-Bountiful. Do thou
remember the one whose power transcended thy
power, and whose station excelled thy station. Where
is he? Whither are gone the things he possessed? Take
warning, and be not of them that are fast asleep. He it
was who cast the Tablet of God behind him when We
made known unto him what the hosts of tyranny had
caused Us to suffer. Wherefore, disgrace assailed him
from all sides, and he went down to dust in great loss.
Think deeply, O King, concerning him, and concerning
them who, like unto thee, have conquered cities
and ruled over men. The All-Merciful brought them
down from their palaces to their graves. Be warned, be
of them who reflect.

~ Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 51

 

[arthra]

Courses and Curriculum:

85. ... he sincerely trusts that these summer courses will serve to deepen the knowledge and the understanding of the friends and enable them to diffuse the teachings of the Faith to the struggling and almost hopeless world.

The wide range of the topics that are to be discussed and studied by the friends cover most of the important aspects of the Cause and such a plan will undoubtedly give them a broad and a sound knowledge of the essentials of the Faith. Special stress, however, should be put on the history of the Movement as well as on the guiding principles of Bahá'í Administration; for on these two points most of the believers are not adequately informed. It is, therefore, a great opportunity for them to strengthen the basis of their beliefs and to try to deepen their understanding of the basis of the present-day Bahá'í administrative system.

(From a letter dated 5 August 1932 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer)

86. Definite courses should be given along the different phases of the Bahá'í Faith and in a manner that will stimulate the students to proceed in their studies privately once they return home, for the period of a few days is not sufficient to learn everything. They have to be taught the habit of studying the Cause constantly, for the more we read the Words the more will the truth they contain be revealed to us.

(From a letter dated 24 November 1932 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer)
(Compilations, The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 31)

 

[arthra]

Therefore it is our duty to put forth our greatest efforts and summon all our energies in order that the bonds of unity and accord may be established among mankind. For thousands of years we have had bloodshed and strife. It is enough; it is sufficient. Now is the time to associate together in love and harmony. For thousands of years we have tried the sword and warfare; let mankind for a time at least live in peace.

Review history and consider how much savagery, how much bloodshed and battle the world has witnessed. It has been either religious warfare, political warfare or some other clash of human interests.


The world of humanity has never enjoyed the blessing of Universal Peace. Year by year the implements of warfare have been increased and perfected. Consider the wars of past centuries; only ten, fifteen or twenty thousand at the most were killed but now it is possible to kill one hundred thousand in a single day. In ancient times warfare was carried on with the sword; today it is the smokeless gun. Formerly battleships were sailing vessels; today they are dreadnoughts. Consider the increase and improvement in the weapons of war.


God has created us all human and all countries of the world are parts of the same globe. We are all his servants. He is kind and just to all. Why should we be unkind and unjust to each other? He provides for all. Why should we deprive one another? He protects and preserves all. Why should we kill our fellow-creatures? If this warfare and strife be for the sake of religion, it is evident that it violates the spirit and basis of all religion. All the divine Manifestations have proclaimed the oneness of God and the unity of mankind. They have taught that men should love and mutually help each other in order that they might progress.


~ Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'i World Faith, p. 244

 

[arthra]

When a soul has in it the life of the spirit, then does it bring forth good fruit and become a Divine tree. I wish you to try to understand this example.

I hope that the unspeakable goodness of God will so strengthen you that the celestial quality of your soul, which relates it to the spirit, will for ever dominate the material side, so entirely ruling the senses that your soul will approach the perfections of the Heavenly Kingdom.

May your faces, being steadfastly set towards the Divine Light, become so luminous that all your thoughts, words and actions will shine with the Spiritual Radiance dominating your souls, so that in the gatherings of the world you will show perfection in your life.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 97

 

[arthra]

O seeker of Truth! If thou desirest that God my open thine eye, thou must supplicate unto God, pray to and commune with Him at midnight, saying:

O Lord, I have turned my face unto Thy kingdom of oneness and am immersed in the sea of Thy mercy. O Lord, enlighten my sight by beholding Thy lights in this dark night, and make me happy by the wine of Thy love in this wonderful age. O Lord, make me hear Thy call, and open before my face the doors of Thy heaven, so that I may see the light of Thy glory and become attracted to Thy beauty.

Verily, Thou art the Giver, the Generous, the Merciful, the Forgiving.

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá
(Compilations, Baha'i Prayers, p. 59)

 

[arthra]

Why this great unrest -- wars and the rumors of wars, changing of dynasties, earthquakes, cataclysms? The people cry "Peace, peace; when there is no peace!"

Are not these the outer sign that man has lost the inner truth? Students in every land who have stepped out of the stream of humanity remind us of the holy books of history -- all of which fortell the coming of a great Messiah or world teacher.

Once again the wheel has turned and brought man face to face with truth. Truth is the handmaid of the prophet. Can there be a handmaid without the prophet?

A movement comes from the East which claims to be the divine instrument for bringing unity into the world. For this reason, if for no other, it deserves attention. Its claims are too vital and important to be overlooked. The wonderful lives of its founders command interest. The courageous lives of its followers and their uncompromising sacrifice for this cause form a chapter that has no parallel in history.

During the last century three great seers or supermen have appeared in Persia -- the Báb, BAHA'O'LLAH and Abdul Baha.

~ Introduction to "Divine Philosophy" pp. 4-5