“Bahá’u’lláh taught that the Prophet, or ‘Manifestation of God,’ is the Light-bringer of the spiritual world, as the sun is the light-bringer of the natural world.” – Dr. Esslemont

Just as the material sun shines over the earth and causes the growth and development of material organisms, so also, through the Divine Manifestation, the Sun of Truth shines upon the world of heart and soul, and educates the thoughts, morals and characters of men. And just as the rays of the natural sun have an influence which penetrates into the darkest and shadiest corners of the world, giving warmth and life even to creatures that have never seen the sun itself, so also, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit through the Manifestation of God influences the lives of all, and inspires receptive minds even in places and among peoples where the name of the Prophet is quite unknown. 

(‘Baha’u’llah and the New Era)

Steps a “true seeker” needs to take to recognize the latest Manifestation of God - Baha'u'llah explains

O My brother! When a true seeker determineth to take the step of search in the path leading unto the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he must, before all else, cleanse his heart, which is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy. He must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the Beloved, of every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments. He must so cleanse his heart that no remnant of either love or hate may linger therein, lest that love blindly incline him to error, or that hate repel him away from the truth. Even as thou dost witness in this Day how most of the people, because of such love and hate, are bereft of the immortal Face, have strayed far from the Embodiments of the Divine mysteries, and, shepherdless, are roaming through the wilderness of oblivion and error. 

- Baha'u'llah  ('Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah')

Baha'i Community of Canada - as of 1954

 

(The Baha'i World 1950-1954)

Three kinds of martyrdom - by Hand of the Cause George Townshend

It is said there are three kinds of martyrdom: 

• one is to stand bravely and meet death unflinchingly in the path of God without wavering or under torture denying for an instant their faith.
• The second is little by little to detach one's heart entirely from the world, laying aside deliberately and voluntarily all vanities and worldly seductions, letting every act and word become a speaking monument and a fitting praise for the Holy Name of Baha'u'llah.
• The third is
• to do the most difficult things with such self-sacrifice that all behold it as your pleasure.
• To seek and to accept poverty with the same smile as you accept fortune.
• To make the sad, the sorrowful your associates instead of frequenting the society of the careless and gay.
• To yield to the decrees of God and to rejoice in the most violent calamities even when the suffering is beyond endurance.

He who can fulfill these last conditions becomes a martyr indeed. 

(‘The Baha’i World 1950-1954')

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