Human soul and the world of vision

When the souls leave the bodies they do not assume elemental bodies. Whatever man thinks regarding this is but his own imagination.

When man desires help and communication from holy souls, he puts himself in a condition of self-unconsciousness and becomes submerged in a sea of meditation; then a spiritual state, which is sanctified from matter and all material things, becomes visible and apparent to him. Then he thinks he beholds a form. Its appearance is like unto a vision.

Man beholds in the world of vision various images, communicates with them and receives benefits, and in that world of vision he thinks they are physical temples and material bodies, while they are purely immaterial.

Briefly, the reality of the soul is sanctified and purified above matter and material things, but, like unto the world of vision, it manifests itself in these material forms and visages. Likewise in the psychic condition, one beholds the spirits like unto the physical forms and visages. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet to Ella Goodall Cooper; Star of the West, vol. 2, no. 15, December 12, 1911)
(To read the entire Tablet please visit Tablets of 'Abdu'l-Baha in Star of the West)

God’s “chastisement in the life to come”

O my God! O my Master! I beseech Thee by Thy manifold bounties and by the pillars which sustain Thy throne of glory, to have pity on these lowly people who are powerless to bear the unpleasant things of this fleeting life, how much less then can they bear Thy chastisement in the life to come—a chastisement which is ordained by Thy justice, called forth by Thy wrath and will continue to exist for ever.

I beg Thee by Thyself, O my God, my Lord and my Master, to intercede in my behalf. I have fled from Thy justice unto Thy mercy. For my refuge I am seeking Thee and such as turn not away from Thy path, even for a twinkling of an eye—they for whose sake Thou didst create the creation as a token of Thy grace and bounty. 

- The Báb  (‘Selections from the Writings of the Báb)

Hope and Horror giant puppets

The giant puppets "Hope" and "Horror" greeted participants at the entrance to the NGO display area at the United Nations Conference on the Sustainable Development of Small Island Developing States, held in Barbados in the spring of 1994. "Hope," made of sailcloth and natural materials, symbolized nature and the human spirit. "Horror," made of discarded auto parts, a broken television, and other refuse, symbolized greed, suspicion, and selfishness. The puppets were contributed to the Conference by members of the Baha’i community. 

(The Baha’i World 1994-1995)

Condition of Persia immediately before Baha’u’llah’s proclamation of “the oneness of the Kingdom of man”

Persia was at one time the centre of religious difference, antagonism and oppression, to such an extent that pen is unable to describe. The adherents of different nations and religions considered it their religious duty to shed the blood of their opponents; they pillaged and ransacked each other’s property and did not fall short of oppressing their own flesh and blood. The hatred between the various religions attained to such a height that they considered each other unclean. Should a Jew enter a Muslim home, he would be made to sit upon the ground; if he drank water from a cup, that cup was destroyed or washed again and again; for the Jew was considered unclean. Such was the hatred and rancor among the different religions and nations in Persia. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet addressed to Mr. C. C. Philips, Secretary of the Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration; Star of the West, vol. 2, no. 15, December 12, 1911) 

(To read the entire Tablet please visit Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Star of the West)

The 20th Century: “This brilliant century has no likeness and similitude in the history of man.”

The Conference on International Arbitration and Peace is the greatest results of this great age. This brilliant century has no likeness and similitude in the history of man. From every standpoint it is distinguished above all other centuries. It is specialized with such excellencies that the shining star of the heavenly confirmations shall gleam from the horizon of this century upon all the future cycles and periods. One of the most extraordinary events of this time, which indeed is a miracle, is the founding of the oneness of this realm of humanity and its essential branches, such as Universal Peace and the unity of the different nations, in this arena of existence. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet addressed to Mr. C. C. Philips, Secretary of the Mohonk Conference on International Arbitration; Star of the West, vol. 2, no. 15, December 12, 1911) 

(To read the entire Tablet please visit Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha in Star of the West)

“What Bahá’ís Believe” and “What Bahá’ís Do” sections of the official website of the worldwide Bahá’í community are now in many languages

THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE

DEPARTMENT OF THE SECRETARIAT

1 February 2016

Transmitted by email

To all National Spiritual Assemblies

Dear Bahá’í Friends,

Further to the email letters dated 18 September 2014 and 20 January 2015 sent on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to all National Spiritual Assemblies regarding the new version of the Bahai.org website, we have been asked to inform you that the core of the sections entitled “What Bahá’ís Believe” and “What Bahá’ís Do” now also appears on the site in Arabic, Chinese, French, Persian, Russian, and Spanish. Efforts are under way to complete the translation process for the remainder of these two sections. Additionally, the same sections will also begin to become available in Hindi and Portuguese in the next three months.

The efflorescence of the site through the introduction of these major international languages, covering a significant portion of the world’s population, represents a notable development, and it is hoped that many people will come to make use of the valuable new resource made thus available.

With loving Bahá’í greetings,

Department of the Secretariat

cc: International Teaching Centre

Boards of Counsellors

Counsellors

Bahá’í World Centre • P.O. Box 155 • 3100101 Haifa, Israel

Tel: 972 (4) 835 8358 • Fax: 972 (4) 835 8280 • Email: secretariat@bwc.org

1950: How Canada was miraculously able to fulfill an assignment from the beloved Guardian - Hand of the Cause John Robarts explains

(Excerpt from a talk given at the Association for Baha'i Studies in 1980)

Baha'i House of Worship in Chile

(Baha'i World News Service)

Those “who are called upon… to serve on the institutions…” of Baha’u’llah’s “mighty system” –> points to keep in mind

And those who are called upon from among the ranks of such enkindled souls to serve on the institutions of that mighty system understand well the Guardian’s words that “their function is not to dictate, but to consult, and consult not only among themselves, but as much as possible with the friends whom they represent.” “Never” would they be “led to suppose that they are the central ornaments of the body of the Cause, intrinsically superior to others in capacity or merit, and sole promoters of its teachings and principles.” “With extreme humility,” they approach their tasks and “endeavour, by their open-mindedness, their high sense of justice and duty, their candour, their modesty, their entire devotion to the welfare and interests of the friends, the Cause, and humanity, to win, not only the confidence and the genuine support and respect of those whom they serve, but also their esteem and real affection." Within the environment thus created, institutions invested with authority see themselves as instruments for nurturing human potential, ensuring its unfoldment along avenues productive and meritorious. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 28 December 2010 addressed to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors) 

The attributes that “true believers” would show towards each other

When any souls grow to be true believers, they will attain a spiritual relationship with one another, and show forth a tenderness which is not of this world. They will, all of them, become elated from a draught of divine love, and that union of theirs, that connection, will also abide forever. Souls, that is, who will consign their own selves to oblivion, strip from themselves the defects of humankind, and unchain themselves from human bondage, will beyond any doubt be illumined with the heavenly splendours of oneness, and will all attain unto real union in the world that dieth not. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’, quoted by the Universal House of Justice in a message dated 28 December 2010 addressed to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)

Humanity to see a “pattern of collective life” in the relationship among the three protagonists of Baha’u’llah’s New World Order

As more and more receptive souls embrace the Cause of God and throw in their lot with those already participating in the global enterprise under way, the development and activity of the individual, the institutions, and the community are sure to receive a mighty thrust forward. May a bewildered humanity see in the relationships being forged among these three protagonists by the followers of Baha'u'llah a pattern of collective life that will propel it towards its high destiny. This is our ardent prayer in the Holy Shrines. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 28 December 2010 addressed to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)

Bahiyyih Khanum - The "archetype of the people of Baha"

Bahiyyih Khanum, The Greatest Holy Leaf, the "archetype of the people of Baha" 

(Shoghi Effendi in 'Bahiyyih Khanum, The Greatest Holy Leaf’, a compilation prepared by the Research Department at the Bahá'í World Centre, 1982)

The “edifice of the Faith of God” – “the last bastion of hope to a lost and wayward humanity”

May this Conference… become a source of strength to the supporters of the Most Great Name so that despite the rising tide of trials and upheavals afflicting the world, and whatever forces of opposition may be mounted against the Cause of God itself, the believers will not waver or become diverted from their course, but be ever more confirmed in their determination to raise the edifice of the Faith of God as the last bastion of hope to a lost and wayward humanity. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated November 1976, addressed to the friends assembled at the International Teaching Conference in Hong Kong; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

circa 1980s: National Convention of the Baha'is of Canada

"There are two kinds of cooperation: material and spiritual"

There are two kinds of cooperation: material and spiritual. Cooperation in the material world will insure happiness and fellowship, and will facilitate the progress of humankind; but the ideal, the most real and virtuous cooperation is spiritual. That is realized when people gather together to investigate and discuss principles impartially, to talk over the divine and philosophic principles of the age and to assist each other in pursuit of divine knowledge and wisdom. This real cooperation and mutual assistance is the foundation on which the super-structure of material reciprocity is based. Through this spiritual inter-assistance the prosperity of the world of man is unveiled. 

-‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha at a Nineteen-Day Feast in London, December 29, 1912; Baha’i News no. 33, July 1929) 

(To see the entire talk please visit Talks of ‘Abdu’l-Baha) 

‘Abdu’l-Baha’s younger brother: Mirza Mihdi - The Purest Branch

Blessed art thou, [1] and blessed he that turneth unto thee, and visiteth thy grave, and draweth nigh, through thee, unto God, the Lord of all that was and shall be.... I testify that thou didst return in meekness unto thine abode. Great is thy blessedness and the blessedness of them that hold fast unto the hem of thy outspread robe.... Thou art, verily, the trust of God and His treasure in this land. Erelong will God reveal through thee that which He hath desired. He, verily, is the Truth, the Knower of things unseen. When thou wast laid to rest in the earth, the earth itself trembled in its longing to meet thee. Thus hath it been decreed, and yet the people perceive not.... Were We to recount the mysteries of thine ascension, they that are asleep would waken, and all beings would be set ablaze with the fire of the remembrance of My Name, the Mighty, the Loving. 

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by Shoghi Effendi in a letter dated December 21, 1939; ‘Messages to America’)

[1] The Purest Branch

Parents “to pass on to their children… the precious Faith they themselves have embraced”

Bahá'ís in every country must be constantly urged and, wherever necessary, assisted to pass on to their children as their most cherished legacy, the precious Faith they themselves have embraced. Those new generations of Bahá'ís will have a vital role in consolidating the Cause of God on a firm foundation.

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated November 1976, addressed to the friends assembled at the International Teaching Conference in Hong Kong; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

1906: One of Tehran's City Gates

(Source: 'Persia - Past and Present. A Book of Travel and Research', by A.V. Williams Jackson)

"The individual, the institutions, and the community… are being shaped under the direct influence of His [Baha’u’llah’s] Revelation, and a new conception of each… is emerging.”

Every follower of Bahá’u’lláh knows well that the purpose of His Revelation is to bring into being a new creation. No sooner had “the First Call gone forth from His lips than the whole creation was revolutionized, and all that are in the heavens and all that are on earth were stirred to the depths.” The individual, the institutions, and the community—the three protagonists in the Divine Plan—are being shaped under the direct influence of His Revelation, and a new conception of each, appropriate for a humanity that has come of age, is emerging. The relationships that bind them, too, are undergoing a profound transformation, bringing into the realm of existence civilization-building powers which can only be released through conformity with His decree. At a fundamental level these relationships are characterized by cooperation and reciprocity, manifestations of the interconnectedness that governs the universe. So it is that the individual, with no regard for “personal benefits and selfish advantages,” comes to see himself or herself as “one of the servants of God, the All-Possessing,” whose only desire is to carry out His laws. So it is that the friends come to recognize that “wealth of sentiment, abundance of good-will and effort” are of little avail when their flow is not directed along proper channels, that “the unfettered freedom of the individual should be tempered with mutual consultation and sacrifice,” and that “the spirit of initiative and enterprise should be reinforced by a deeper realization of the supreme necessity for concerted action and a fuller devotion to the common weal.” And so it is that all come to discern with ease those areas of activity in which the individual can best exercise initiative and those which fall to the institutions alone. “With heart and soul”, the friends follow the directives of their institutions, so that, as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá explains, “things may be properly ordered and well arranged”. This, of course, is not a blind obedience; it is an obedience that marks the emergence of a mature human race which grasps the implications of a system as far-reaching as Bahá’u’lláh’s new World Order. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 28 December 2010 addressed to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors)