You are already a qualified practitioner in your field, and
no doubt you give advice on the basis of what you have learned from study and
experience – a whole fabric of concepts about the human mind, its growth,
development and proper functioning, which you have learned and evolved without
reference to the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh. Now, as a Bahá'í, you know that what
Bahá'u'lláh teaches about the purpose of human life, the nature of the human
being and the proper conduct of human lives, is divinely revealed and therefore
true. However, it will inevitably take time for you not only to study the
Bahá'í teachings so that you clearly understand them, but also to work out how
they modify your professional concepts. This is, of course, not an unusual
predicament for a scientist. How often in the course of research is a factor
discovered which requires a revolution in thinking over a wide field of human
endeavour. You must be guided in each case by your own professional knowledge
and judgement as illuminated by your growing knowledge of the Bahá'í teachings;
undoubtedly you will find that your own understanding of the human problems
dealt with in your work will change and develop and you will see new and
improved ways of helping the people who come to you. Psychology is still a very
young and inexact science, and as the years go by Bahá'í psychologists, who
know from the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh the true pattern of human life, will be
able to make great strides in the development of this science, and will help
profoundly in the alleviation of human suffering.
- The Universal House of
Justice (From a message dated 6 February 1973, published in "Messages from
the Universal House of Justice, 1968-1973"; the Compilation of Compilations,
vol. III, Scholarship)
