Your letter of 14 February 1973 enquiring about the uses of
Bahá'í consultation has been received. This is, of course, a matter in which
rigidity should be avoided.
When a believer has a problem concerning which he must make
a decision, he has several courses open to him. If it is a matter that affects
the interests of the Faith he should consult with the appropriate Assembly or
committee, but individuals have many problems which are purely personal and
there is no obligation upon them to take such problems to the institutions of
the Faith; indeed, when the needs of the teaching work are of such urgency it
is better if the friends will not burden their assemblies with personal
problems that they can solve by themselves.
A Bahá'í who has a problem may wish to make his own decision
upon it after prayer and after weighing all the aspects of it in his own mind;
he may prefer to seek the council of individual friends or of professional
counsellors such as his doctor or lawyer so that he can consider such advice
when making his decision; or in a case where several people are involved, such
as a family situation, he may want to gather together those who are affected so
that they may arrive at a collective decision. There is also no objection
whatever to a Bahá'í asking a group of people to consult together on a problem
facing him.
It should be borne in mind that all consultation is aimed at
arriving at a solution to a problem and is quite different from the sort of
group baring of the soul that is popular in some circles these days which
borders on the kind of confession that is forbidden in the Faith. On the
subject of Confession the Guardian's secretary wrote on his behalf to an
individual believer: 'We are forbidden to confess to any person, as do the
Catholics to their priests, our sins and shortcomings, or to do so in public,
as some religious sects do. However, if we spontaneously desire to acknowledge
we have been wrong in something, or that we have some fault of character, and
ask another person's forgiveness or pardon, we are quite free to do so. The
Guardian wants to point out, however, that we are not obliged to do so. It
rests entirely with the individual'.
- The Universal House of Justice (From a letter of the Universal House of
Justice to the National Spiritual Assembly of Canada, March 19, 1973;
compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)
