The Races of Men - Many or One? –- by Louis G. Gregory, published 1929

(For a brief write-up about Louis Gregory please visit Baha'i Heroes and Heroines)

The world today is making many discoveries in the realm of phenomena. The greatest of these concerns man himself, the laws which relate to his being and those which govern his relations with his fellow beings. Although many glooms and shadows still sway the minds of men, yet two great lights are shining with increasing splendor. One is science and the other religion. Through these luminous orbs men are coming to know each other much better than in past ages.

A century or more ago men with few exceptions accepted the dogma of eternal division and separation between various human stocks, which were regarded as distinct human species. This gave to any one of them the right by virtue of its material might to claim a station of inherent superiority conferred by Divine Power.

A few men of genius saw differently. One of these rare souls was Thomas Jefferson, author of the Declaration of Independence. It is altogether remarkable that writing at a time when special privilege was enthroned and human slavery was sanctioned by the laws of all lands, he should have declared it to be self-evident that all men were created free and equal. Was this statement an accident? Was it not his intention to imply that all white men were created equal? No, that the great principle declared by the American Commoner was not on his part fortuitous is indicated by a further statement as well as by his personal attitude toward Benjamin Banneker, the Negro astronomer, who was his contemporary and by him was appointed as one of the surveyors of the site of the city of Washington. Writing about this colored scientist to one of his foreign friends, President Jefferson said:

The Role of Women – by Hand of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum

A talk given at Women’s Teacher Training College, Tamale, Ghana, 15 February, 1971


I am very honoured to be here. This is an unexpected pleasure. I didn't know that I was going to have the honour of addressing the girls in this school, and I can't think of any audience that I would rather speak to than young people, and especially young women, and I am very grateful for this opportunity.

The role of women is something that is very important in the Baha'i Faith and it is a subject that interests me very much. We say nowadays that men and women should be equal, and in the Baha'i Faith we say that humanity is like a bird, that a bird flies with two wings, one wing is men and one wing women. If the two wings don't fly evenly together, the bird cannot soar, it cannot go high in the sky. So we attach the greatest importance to women having an equal position in society with men.

Now an equal position does not necessarily mean that they have to do the same things. You know, I come from the United States and Canada and in our part of the world we have the idea that anything that a man does, a woman can do. If a man is going to drive a truck, a woman can drive a truck; if a man is going to be President of the United States, the woman says: why shouldn't I be President? Every single thing that a man does nowadays, a woman wants to do too. Well, all right, if a woman like Indira Gandhi is the Prime Minister of a great country like India, or like Golda Meir of Israel - whom I have met and who is a wonderful woman, a very distinguished woman – that’s fine, but it doesn’t mean every single one of us has to be a Prime Minister or has to be a truck driver or has to be a President! Equality is not in doing exactly what your husband does, equality is that your husband should consider that you are a human being with exactly the same rights that he has, this is real equality. And women have a part to play in society that we Baha'is believe is perhaps more important than men's, and in a moment I will tell you what that is.

Hidden Words of Baha’u’llah – A Reflection, by George Townshend

Here the world's religions meet and are fused into one by the fire of a great love. "This is that which hath descended from the realm of glory, uttered by the tongue of power and might, and revealed unto the prophets of old. We have taken the inner essence thereof and clothed it in the garment of brevity,"

In an age of compendiums there is no other compendium such as this. No other pen has attempted to make a summary which shall be so concise and so complete as to contain in less than eight score brief Words of Counsel the vital substance of the world-religions. In the newly printed version of Shoghi Effendi, the "Hidden Words" makes a small pocket volume of fifty-five pages.

Yet for all its terseness it bears none of the marks of a digest or an abstract. It has the sweep, the force, the freshness of an original work. It is rich with imagery, laden with thought, throbbing with emotion. Even at the remove of a translation one feels the strength and majesty of the style and marvels at the character of a writing which combines so warm and tender a loving kindness with such dignity and elevation.

The teaching of the book throughout is borne up as if on wings by the most intense and steadfast spirituality. With the first utterance the reader is caught away to the heavenly places, and the vision is not obscured when the precepts given deal with the details of workaday life, with the duty of following a craft or a profession and of earning a livelihood to spend on one's kindred for the love of God. The picture given of man and of human nature is noble and exalted. If he be in appearance a "pillar of dust," a "fleeting shadow", yet he is in his true being a "child of the divine, and invisible essence," a "companion of God's Throne." The created worlds are designed for his training. The purpose of all religious teaching is to make him worthy of the love of God and able to receive his bounties.

The Servant of God -- An address by Albert Vail, April 30th, 1919

Delivered at the Ninth Session of the Baha’i Congress, held in Hotel McAlpin, New York City, Wednesday evening, April 30th, 1919. Stenographically reported.


“The doors of the Kingdom are open; the Sun of Truth is shining upon the world; the daysprings of mercy have appeared." What does this mean? Evidently it means that this little world in which we live, in the sight of God is like a tiny ball floating in a universe of infinitely wonderful light. In the sight of God, this handful of dust, the world, is but one home and all the prayer of the eternal world is that this world may be in unity. Now when the darkness and the storm spread over the earth, it seems very dark to us who are underneath the clouds. But if we can rise a little in the altitude of the spirit and see the Sun of Truth eternally shining from the heaven of God's presence, no cloud which ever came over the world would be more than a temporary passing mist.

The God who made this little world also made all the heavenly and divine worlds. He evidently has a clear purpose for this world on which we dwell, and that purpose is that, after the thousands of years of war, it should enter into a millennium of peace. The world could have no other meaning than that this strife and confusion would at last prepare the hearts of men for the sweetness of the kingdom of universal peace.

Now, when the King begins to send His light into the world the people catch only a few rays of the dawning Sun of Reality as it rises over the horizon of man's limitation and breaks through the clouds of his suspicion, his ignorance and his prejudice. The first few rays in this new day, are the desire for a League of Nations, the longing for democracy; the prayer for woman's suffrage, for equality between men and women, the longing for universal education, for science, for civilization, for new arts, that great yearning that touches the hearts of all men all over the world and, stirring in their hearts, tells them that the new day is here, the divine world is breaking into the human world.

The Mission of the Bab: Retrospective, 1844-1994 – by Douglas Martin

(Some relics of the Bab can be seen at: http://bahaisacredrelics.blogspot.com/)

The year 1994 marked the 150th anniversary of the declaration of His mission by the Bab (Siyyid 'Ali-Muhammad, 1819-1850), one of the two Founders of the Baha’i Faith. The moment invites an attempt to gain an overview of the extraordinary historical consequences that have flowed from an event little noticed at the time outside the confines of the remote and decadent society within which it occurred.

The first half of the nineteenth century was a period of messianic expectation in the Islamic world, as was the case in many parts of Christendom. In Persia a wave of millenialist enthusiasm had swept many in the religiously educated class of Shi'ih Muslim society, focused on belief that the fulfillment of prophecies in the Qur'an and the Islamic traditions was at hand. It was to one such ardent seeker [Mulla Husayn-i-Bushru’i] that, on the night of 22-23 May 1844, the Bab (a title meaning "Gate") announced that He was the Bearer of a Divine Revelation destined not only to transform Islam but to set a new direction for the spiritual life of humankind.

During the decade that followed, mounting opposition from both clergy and state brought about the martyrdom of the Bab, the massacre of His leading disciples and of several thousands of His followers, and the virtual extinction of the religious system that He had founded. Out of these harrowing years, however, emerged a successor movement, the Baha'i Faith, that has since spread throughout the planet and established its claim to represent a new and independent world religion.

It is to Baha'u'llah (Mirza Husayn-'Ali, 1817-1892), that the worldwide Baha'i community looks as the source of its spiritual and social teachings, the authority for the laws and institutions that shape its life, and the vision of unity that has today made it one of the most geographically widespread and ethnically diverse of organized bodies of people on the planet. It is from Baha'u'llah that the Faith derives its name and toward Whose resting place in the Holy Land that the millions of Baha'is around the world daily direct their thoughts when they turn to God in prayer.

Educating the Women of Persia – by Dr. Genevieve L Coy, Director of Girls Tarbiat School in Tihran, 1926

"A teacher is like unto a gardener. Just as a gardener sows the seeds and watches over their sprouting, looks after their growth and development, so also a teacher must watch over the education of the children and inculcate in their young lives the highest ideals of truth and justice." -‘Abdu'l-Baha.

Twenty years ago [as of 1926] there were no schools for girls in Tihran. Daughters of affluent parents were occasionally taught by tutors, but as a rule a woman was supposed to have no acquaintance with the learning that came from books. With the slow development of progressive ideas this situation has been markedly changed, and Tihran now contains both public and private schools for girls.

The Girls' Tarbiyat School, sponsored and financed by the Baha'is of Tihran, was the second school for girls opened in the city. During the nine years of Miss Lillian Kappes' work as director, the school came successfully through many difficulties, and is now one of the largest and best of the girls' schools. Three years ago a reactionary Minister of Education said to the principal of another school: "The Tarbiyat School is the best school for girls in Tihran. Alas that they are Baha'is!”

In spite of the handicap of a limited curriculum, the importance of the Tarbiyat School in the lives of her pupils can scarcely be overestimated. We will consider first some of the direct contributions made by the subjects in the course of study.

Serving the Cause through the art of storytelling -- by Mr. Kiser Barnes, A talk given at the Bahá’í World Centre

29 January 2003
Haifa, Israel


Good evening Friends. I’m delighted to be among so many lovers of stories and storytellers. In this presentation of a few stories, I’ll make some remarks about serving the Cause of God through the art of storytelling.

The Báb and Bahá’u’lláh, like the Manifestations of God before Them, told educative stories. The Manifestations are Divine Educators who often couched the most valuable lessons for humanity in penetrating stories. The use of parables by Jesus is greatly appreciated. In The Dawn-Breakers, Nabíl has recorded narratives Bahá’u’lláh related to him. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá was a superb storyteller. It would be an excellent contribution to learning if the Master’s use of stories was examined. What were His methods? What languages did He use? How did He promote the art of storytelling? What subjects did He stress? Of course, God Passes By is Shoghi Effendi’s unique account of the outstanding events that occurred in the first century of the Faith’s history. A treasure of stories for the world is found in the Guardian’s expositions and commentaries. For example, in The Promised Day is Come, he relates what happened to some eastern rulers who opposed Bahá’u’lláh. In short, storytelling has been, and remains, a powerful instrument for the Faith’s advancement.

Teaching the Oneness of Mankind

The young lady who introduced me, Jacqueline Ambe, is from Cameroon. The first Cameroonian woman who accepted the Faith was Mrs. Esther Tanyi. She told me how she became a believer. In her own way, she related how a believer taught her to believe in the oneness of mankind through his consumption of food.

After Mr. Enoch Olinga, the late Hand of the Cause of God, settled in Cameroon in 1953, the Guardian sent Mr. Alí Nakhjavání there with his request that five of the new and only Cameroonian Bahá’ís at that time should arise to establish the Faith in other parts of West Africa. The only question these new believers had was this: Who among them would gain this special honour? They had recently elected the first Local Spiritual Assembly in the city of Victoria. Therefore, they decided that the five who would become international pioneers would be selected by secret ballot. Ballots were cast. Those chosen left their homes for other lands. Thus, five Cameroonians became Knights of Bahá’u’lláh during the Ten Year Crusade. Mr. David Tanyi, Esther’s husband, established the Faith in Togo.

A talk given by Mr. Ali Nakhjavani to Local Spiritual Assembly Members of Southern Ontario, Canada

5 September 1986

Beloved friends, the fall I had was unexpected, but these meetings I have had with the friends, although unexpected, have been extremely inspiring to me -- but not this (referring to broken wrist) -- particularly when I went to Quebec. I found the friends there on fire with the teaching work and I must have met over that weekend something like 15 to 16 friends who are close to the Faith, and some of them came to me personally to express their love and appreciation for Baha'u'llah. They don't have too may proclamation activities there. They are not rich on the whole. They have far distances to traverse. But there is something which I cannot describe. Jalal is my brother. He visited Quebec and he used to write me letters about the Quebecois. He used to tell me, 'You should come here and see them and talk to them. They are a different people. They seem to understand the Faith and appreciate it. They respond to the truth enshrined in the Faith.' And one reason why I went to Quebec was to undertake this travel on behalf and in the name of my brother who loved the Quebecois so much. And the Quebecois told me that they loved him very much. In fact some of their children have been named Jalal because of him. It is really my wish that the spirit which is in Quebec will permeate the entire community in Canada. And if this is done, if you make an analysis of what has happened in Quebec, what is it that these friends are doing that, for example, we in this part of Canada are not doing -- why is that they are successful -- if you make a study of this, maybe we can get some excellent results and methods.

Recollection of a Pilgrim Talk – by Hooper Dunbar, Member of the Universal House of Justice

Haifa, Israel
Friday 5th March 2010


This is most likely the last time that I will address the pilgrims (Mr. Dunbar retires from the House on March 20). You know the pilgrims are referred to as the life blood of the Bahá’í World Centre. And the beloved Guardian used to say that there were two purposes of pilgrimage. The first was to imbibe, fill yourself with the spirit. The second was to impart – that after you leave the World Centre with your stories, memories, and photos, impart that spirit to others, because only a tiny proportion of the Bahá’í world can come on pilgrimage.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá says that no action is more meritorious than remembering and praying for loved ones in the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh. Ask Bahá’u’lláh’s assistance and forgiveness on their behalf.

When the pilgrims go the Shrines there are all kinds of responses. You may be wondering why everyone around me is in tears and I’m not – am I some kind of dried potato? You may be in the Shrines and remember things about your life that you are not particularly proud of. It happens. What do you do? Friends, leave the things you are not proud of in the Shrines – leave them there. The past is the past. You have to move on. You know Bahá’u’lláh says over and over again that God is the most merciful, the most forgiving God. [e.g: O Thou Provider, O Thou Forgiver! Grant us Thy grace and loving-kindness, Thy gifts and Thy bestowals, and sustain us, that we may attain our goal. Thou art the Powerful, the Able, the Knower, the Seer; and, verily, Thou art the Generous, and, verily, Thou art the All-Merciful, and, verily, Thou art the Ever-Forgiving, He to Whom repentance is due, He Who forgiveth even the most grievous of sins.] Friends, we have to trust that this is the case and move on to serve the Cause, assuming that our past is forgiven. This is one purpose of pilgrimage. But it is God who forgives. We should not play God. We should not think I cannot forgive myself for this or that. Or think how can I arise to do this or that knowing what I have done? God forgives. Move on. Serve the Cause. (Note: Mr. Dunbar was very strong on this point and I am sure helped many).

Teaching Problems – A Message from Hand of the Cause Ruhiyyih Khanum, March 18, 1949, Haifa, Israel

We often wonder why it is that when we have the remedy for all the ills of the world, the world won't take it. Sometimes it is very disheartening. We feel we are like a man standing at a fork in the road, voluntarily inconveniencing himself by acting as a signpost. He points right with a sign that reads "Safety This Way" and left is marked "Danger, Precipice", but he finds most people rush the high road to the precipice and very, very few take the little unattractive path to safety. And we Baha'is, always trying to offer our priceless gift, many of us out in strange places as pioneers, many more traveling around as teachers or working hard and eagerly on National, Regional or Local Teaching Committees and allied Committees, wonder what on earth is the matter. Are the people all blind or is there something wrong with us?

The Ills of Mankind

The answer, of course, is, that broadly speaking, the human race today is certainly distracted, and, compared to an absolute standard of normalcy, somewhat demented, and we ourselves are far from being what we should be. The combination of mass disobedience to the Laws of God, and our own incomplete adherence to them, acts as a brake on the success of our labors.

Horace Holley – A talk at the Los Angeles Baha'i Center October 23, 1948

[We Owe it to ‘Abdu’l-Baha; The Temple as a Powerful, Silent Teacher]

(Stenographic notes)

The human race is immersed in the ocean of the spirit. Baha'u'llah is universal, and He has surrounded humanity with all the blessings of the Day of God. You and I are aware of the fact that we are immersed in the ocean of the spirit, but the majority of the people are not yet aware, and when we are not aware of the spirit that surrounds and penetrates us, and tries to act upon a reluctant heart and a mind that is full of the shadows of the past, the individual encased in this unawareness is fearful of the spirit because the spirit, to him, is something that threatens what he thinks is the basis of his human personality. It is as though he were constantly being threatened by death-not physical death-but the extinction of what he considers to be his security. Those who are aware of the spirit, and know it can do nothing but bless those who become aware of it, have laid upon themselves the mission of the ages, to remove the obstacles from human personality which shut people out from the Spirit of Baha'u'llah.

In this great Day of God there is no one way to free all souls. The number of ways which are necessary to learn is exactly the number of the Baha'is themselves, which means that every Baha'i has a mission, and if any of us fail to do our part in the quickening of souls, it means we have left certain people in the prison of their human personality, because we have thrown away the keys that would open the doors and make them Baha'is.

Ruhiyyih Khanum’s Message to First Canadian National Convention - 1948

To the Delegates and Friends attending the First Canadian National Baha'i Convention.

Dear Friends:

What a blessing and privilege to be allowed to raise my voice on this historic occasion, even though from across two seas, and address these words to you in my own home. You who are gathered here see this room, these walls and doors clearly, but I assure you they rise up before my eyes dimmed by the passing years, sanctified by memory and longing, and what comes to my mind is a nostalgic co-mingling of the past and the future.

Strangely enough the most vivid picture is one neither I—nor probably one of you -- can remember as an eye witness: 'Abdu'l Baha addressing in this very room, a group of believers and guests. The strong, sad, wise face; the silvery hair; the beautiful, understanding blue eyes that swa the reality of things, the reality of evil, the reality of error, of failure and deviation, and yet looked upon all men with a loving and gentle spirit and filled them with hope, -- this is the first and most vivid imprint of all, which surely clings to this house so blessed by His presence. And what He said on that occasion must have for you, I feel, now gathered here to carry on His work at such an important juncture in Canadian history, a special message and a special significance. He opened his speech with these words:

"An hour ago a Young man came here and we discussed together whether nature is perfect or imperfect, light or darkness. I wish now to complete that conversation. Nature--that is, generally speaking, the physical world, the world of nature, if we observe it carefully and seek to probe its mysteries, -- this world of nature is seen to be imperfect, to be dark. Consider carefully: if we leave a plot of earth in its natural state it will remain a field of thistles, it will grow useless weeds; if we leave the hills to themselves the trees will remain fruitless, it is a jungle with no harvest, no order. Therefore, this world of nature is dark, it must be illumined. In what will its illumination lie?"

‘Abdu’l-Baha then went on to answer His own question and point out that cultivation and training in the world of nature has converted the wilderness into harvest-bearing fields, and that just as the physical world would, if left untended, revert to a state of nature which is dark, wild, and fruitless, so men, if abandoned to themselves, if left uneducated, revert to a state resembling that of animals -- nay, even worse than animals, for they can become like the cannibals of Africa, their human qualities of mind and soul remaining wholly undeveloped. Through one simile after another he pointed out that the physical world must be redeemed from its gross state of imperfection through training.

The Constitution of the Universal House of Justice - by Ali Nakhjavani

(Transcript of a talk as part of six talks given during a week-long course in February of 2004 on the “World Order of Baha'u'llah”. The event was sponsored by the NSA of Italy. The notes also include questions raised by the participants and Mr. Nakhjavani’s answers. This text, excluding the quotations section, was published in 2005 under the title "Towards World Order". A chapter on “The Covenant” was added in the 2007 edition.)

On October 18th 1927, referring to the Declaration of Trust and By-Laws of the National Spiritual Assembly, Shoghi Effendi wrote the following addressing that National Assembly: "You can but faintly imagine how comforting a stimulant and how helpful a guide its publication and circulation will be to those patient and toiling workers in Eastern lands... You can hardly realise how substantially it would contribute to pave the way for the elaboration of the beginnings of the constitution of the worldwide Bahá'í Community that will form the permanent basis upon which the blest and sanctified edifice of the first International House of Justice will securely rest and flourish."- (BA p.143). In a letter referring to the same subject, addressed to the Bahá'ís in Iran, Shoghi Effendi referred to the need for the Persian National Assembly to have its own constitution, and pointed out that the constitution of National Assemblies is the Greater Law of God's Holy Faith, while the constitution of the Universal House of Justice is its Most Great Law. In 1934, when he wrote his "Dispensation", Shoghi Effendi once again referred to the future constitution of the Supreme Body of the Faith.

When the Universal House of Justice was formed in 1963, it was able to launch its first teaching and consolidation Plan in April 1964, which was the Nine-Year Plan. One of the goals of that Plan, set aside as an objective of the World Centre, was to draft the Constitution governing the operation of the House of Justice, as well as the affairs of the worldwide Bahá'í Community. In view of the mounting cares and responsibilities of the Universal House of Justice, and the meticulous concentration required to produce such a vitally important document, it took most of the nine years under this first Plan to bring this project to conclusion.

In the Days of the Guardian – a Talk by Hand of the Cause of God Leroy Ioas in Johannesburg, South Africa, 1958

Dearly beloved friends it’s a very great pleasure for Mrs. Ioas and myself to be in South Africa in the city of Johannesburg to meet the friends here and to have an opportunity to talk with them about the Bahá’í Faith, and particularly this evening about our beloved Guardian, Shoghi Effendi.

If the establishment of the Bahá’í Faith in South Africa, in this difficult area, and it’s very difficult, the very fact that it is difficult will bring about great results in the future, and will produce great Bahá’í teachers and great Bahá’í workers.

Teaching the Cause is disseminating the power of the Holy Spirit, and when you become a teacher of the Cause you become a channel through which the Holy Spirit descends into the world and goes out to those to whom you teach. So actually, the teacher secures greater benefit than the one whom he teaches, because he is then in contact with the power of the Holy Spirit.

In the Holy Land where we, Mrs. Ioas and I, had the privilege of serving the beloved Guardian for six years, you learned a little bit of what it meant to be in contact with the Holy Spirit directly, because you were continuously in the presence of the beloved Guardian, and, as you know, he was like a generator of spiritual power. When you met the Guardian, you could just feel his spiritual power, this penetrating light through your very being, and to move continuously in that power, in that force, is not an easy thing. It was something to aspire to, but I don’t think very many of us actually achieved, very much in the way of nearness to his spirit. The power of the emanating guidance of God descended upon Shoghi Effendi at all times, and in all things he did, and in all of his ways and his actions and deeds, you could see the supreme guidance which he was receiving in the carrying on of Bahá’í work.

September 2001 Talks by Douglas Martin -- in Atlanta, New York and Massachusetts

(A collection of 5 sets of notes by various individuals)

Notes Collection # 1

Lesser Peace
The Lesser Peace is a process that started with Woodrow Wilson, when he created the League of Nations. It will be a long time from now before we fully understand what the Lesser Peace was.

Mr. Martin detailed some of the elements in the following parallel processes mentioned by Shoghi Effendi. "...the two parallel processes of integration and disintegration associated respectively with the rising fortunes of God's infant Faith and the sinking fortunes of the institutions of a declining civilization." (Shoghi Effendi: Messages to the Baha'i World, Page: 102) Disintegration: - military buildup - counter-productive economic system - human weaknesses - prejudices - collapsing moral standards Integration: - individuals of capacity and insight like Woodrow Wilson and Eleanor Roosevelt - revolutions in communications and transportation - artists, musicians, soccer players and more working as agents of the awakening of the oneness of mankind - every barrier separating humans into artificial constructs has collapsed - Universal House of Justice peace statement

Seemingly insurmountable obstacles to world peace have been blown away by the Will of God. "Thou seest the mountains and thinkest them firmly fixed: but they shall pass away as the clouds pass away: (such is) the artistry of God, Who disposes of all things in perfect order..." (The Qur'an, The Ant (An-Naml), verse 88)

Recollections about Ruhiyyih Khanum – by Violette Nakhjavani

(Transcript of a talk given in East London, South Africa in 2001)

We have been travelling for five weeks so far, and have visited Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. We have been immersed in a sea of singing and of music, and we are so happy and grateful to Baha'u'llah that this trip was possible. I was in South Africa 29 years ago, with Amatu'l-Baha Ruhiyyih Khanum. She left her home in Haifa in July 1969, and didn't get back until April 1973. She was travelling for three years and nine months, and during this time, she visited 60 countries, 34 of which were on the continent of Africa. South Africa was towards the end of the trip, and was very special. South Africa, and all of Africa, was a different place 29 years ago.

South Africa was very, very different. Meetings like this, with mixed races and colors present, were almost impossible. Ruhhiyih Khanum said that this country was the greatest test to her, because she was told since childhood about racial unity, amity between the different races and people, so coming here was a real shock to her. During the four weeks that she was in South West Africa, as it was called then, she would have daily prayers, to be free of any form of prejudice. She would say, Baha'u'llah didn't tell us to chose our prejudice, so we must feel a total lack of prejudice in life. So it was quite hard for her when she was refused permits to see the Baha'is in different areas, so today, she is rejoicing with us. I firmly believe that her spirit is in Africa. She loved this continent, the people, and she had the best years of her life after the passing of the Guardian here.

Obedience - an address by Ian Semple

26 July 1991
Baha'i World Centre

The International Teaching Centre has produced a wonderful compilation, which you've all received, of texts on the subject of obedience. I'm assuming that you're familiar with those, and therefore I want to approach the subject from a more general point of view--principally about obedience in relation to freedom of thought and also to discussing the importance of obedience both to the individual's spiritual development and to society as a whole.

Mankind has suffered appallingly from tyranny, throughout virtually its whole history, and obedience has often come to be equated with servility and acquiescence in oppression--or even worse, to be used as an excuse for taking part in oppression. You know, because of having lived in Israel for some time, how often this comes up when the question of the Holocaust is being discussed. Those who took part in the Holocaust said, "Well, I was just obeying orders; I am not the one to blame." Now, because of this history of oppression, obedience has become widely despised, and freedom and "rugged individualism" are prized as true goals of social life. What, then, are we to make of this statement of Baha'u'llah:

“What mankind needeth in this day is obedience unto them that are in authority, and a faithful adherence to the cord of wisdom.”

To understand this we need to see the other side of the picture. We need to appreciate the enormity of the problems mankind is grappling with, which are caused by violent nationalism and tribalism, by individual greed and ruthless competition in economic life, by unbridled permissiveness in morality, and by the ever-growing incidence of crime and terrorism. These are all distortions of freedom.

The Lesser Peace and the Most Great Peace – by Ali Nakhjavani

(Transcript of a talk as part of six talks given during a week-long course in February of 2004 on the “World Order of Baha'u'llah”. The event was sponsored by the NSA of Italy. The notes also include questions raised by the participants and Mr. Nakhjavani’s answers. This text, excluding the quotations section, was published in 2005 under the title "Towards World Order". A chapter on “The Covenant” was added in the 2007 edition.)


In order to place this subject in its proper context it would be useful to have a general understanding of the twin processes, frequently expounded in the writings of Shoghi Effendi, of disintegration and integration, as they unfold in the world today.

I feel it would be helpful to look at the parable of the Lord of the Vineyard, as given by Jesus Christ. "A certain man planted a vineyard, and let it forth to husbandmen, and went into a far country for a long time. And at the season he sent a servant to the husbandmen, that they should give him of the fruit of the vineyard: but the husbandmen beat him, and sent him away empty. And again he sent another servant: and they beat him also, and entreated him shamefully, and sent him away empty. And again he sent a third: and they wounded him also, and cast him out. Then said the Lord of the vineyard, What shall I do? I will send my beloved son: it may be they will reverence him when they see him. But when the husbandmen saw him, they reasoned among themselves, saying, This is the heir: come, let us kill him, that the inheritance may be ours. So they cast him out of the vineyard, and killed him. What therefore shall the Lord of the vineyard do unto them? He shall come and destroy these husbandmen, and shall give the vineyard to others." (New Testament, Luke 20:9-16)

Here are a few comments:

Education, Scholarship, and Global Civilization - by Peter Khan

(A slightly edited transcript of a talk given by Dr. Peter Khan on 13 August 2006 at the Association for Bahá’í Studies conference in San Francisco, California.
Headings have been added)

THE ENLIGHTENED MIND

The Universal Applicability of Bahá’í Laws and Principles

By way of preamble, I would like to draw your attention to one of the distinctive features of our religion: the fact that we have, as an integral element of the structure of our teachings, the concept of the supremacy of the rule of law. By that I mean that the laws and teachings of our Faith are applicable to all members of the Bahá’í community irrespective of any other consideration. This is relatively unusual; so often in religious communities there are certain individuals who, rightly or wrongly, feel themselves excused from some aspects of their teachings by virtue of their rank, their social standing, or some other consideration; whereas in our religion there are a number of universal principles applicable, without distinction, to all. I want to spend a few minutes – before getting into the meat of my subject – I want to spend a few minutes exploring a few of those universally applicable principles, and I think they can be gathered together under the heading of the “enlightened mind”.

We are all familiar with the fact that religions have, as a matter of course, down through the span of human history, religions have concerned themselves with enlightenment. It’s even been carried to the point of caricature. Janet and I have just spent a few days being very lazy, which included watching television in Northern California. Those of you who have been equally indolent may be familiar with a TV ad for Yellow Pages, some poor soul climbs a mountain to find an individual who is some kind of guru and a source of enlightenment and our traveler seeks guidance from him on how all information can be obtained and this enlightened soul refers him to the Yellow Pages. Be that as it may, the attainment of enlightenment has always been the goal of religion.

Learning and the Evolution of the Bahá’í Community - by Paul Lample

Plenary talk given at the 32nd annual conference of the Association for Bahá’í Studies – North America

29 August to 1 September 2008

[Before change took place in the current culture of the Bahá’í community ]

“It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding,” Bahá’u’lláh states, “to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action.”1 To be a Bahá’í, to “live the life,” means to comprehend the Word of God and act on it, individually and collectively. It is to make the reality of one’s personal life and the pattern of society at large reflect the teachings. Bahá’u’lláh Himself affirms that “the object of every Revelation” is to “effect a transformation in the whole character of mankind, a transformation that shall manifest itself both outwardly and inwardly, that shall affect both its inner life and external conditions.” Otherwise, He observes, “the futility of God’s universal Manifestations would be apparent.”2

Collectively, we receive the gift of the Word of God, and through its application we are to raise the Kingdom of God on earth; that is, we are to gradually contribute to the building of a new social order that is shaped by the truths of the Revelation of Bahá’u’lláh. This statement appears simple, yet implicit in it is a challenge to reflect deeply about how we are to understand and behave. Achieving Bahá’u’lláh’s intended purpose for the human race requires new morals, new ways of generating knowledge, new ways of communicating, new ways of acting, and new institutions. How do we Bahá’ís, with our diverse, sometimes conflicting, understandings of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings, collaborate to bring about the society that reflects His will? The answer will have to be found in learning, over time, to better understand the text and translate it into efficacious action consistent with its divine intent.

Reflections on the Ridvan 2009 Message - by Dr. Peter Khan

A talk by Dr. Peter Khan on 3 July 2009

The Ridvan Message

I’m very very pleased to have the opportunity to speak about a document as significant and of such far reaching importance as the Riḍván 2009 Message.

As you know it was and is unique, as far as I can tell, among the various messages of the Universal House of Justice in its brevity and in its tone. It comes hard on the heels of a remarkable event, unprecedented in the history of the Cause, or indeed in the history of the religion throughout the world; and that was the convening, at the instruction of the Universal House of Justice, and with the invaluable assistance of the Members of the International Teaching Centre, of a series of 41 Conferences held throughout the length and breadth of the planet, attended by some eighty thousand people.

As you are, I am sure, aware, that series of conferences had a galvanizing effect on the Bahá’í Community throughout the world and ultimately on the larger society. It was a tangible demonstration of the global spread of the Faith and it created a most welcome surge toward the goal of 1500 Intensive Programs of Growth by the end of the present plan.

This Riḍván Message can be regarded as celebratory in term: celebrating the fact that we have achieved an important milestone in reaching some 1000 Intensive Programs of Growth by Riḍván 2009, and expressing the confidence of the Universal House of Justice that the goal of the Five Year Plan would be accomplished.

My purpose tonight is not to dwell specifically on those details, but rather to share with you my thoughts about what I see to be two underlying issues, the exploration of which I believe to be crucial to a deeper understanding of this Riḍván Message and indeed of the direction in which the faith is now going.

These two issues which I will address in turn have firstly to dwell upon the significance of Bahá’í activity at the present time in the history of the world, and secondly to examine the question of change in religion.

Baha'i Saints, Heroes, Martyrs and Administrators - by Hartmut Grossman

Notes of a talk given by Universal House of Justice Member Hartmut Grossman to the first group of Baha’i Pilgrims to enter the Cell of Baha’u’llah after a break of eight years. This talk was given on the evening of October 30th, 2003.

The Universal House of Justice views the re-opening of the Cell of Baha’u’llah as being a very significant event, so much so that prior to the pilgrims’ visit, all of the members went to the Cell as a Body to say special prayers.

We should remember the suffering that occurred at this prison - the prison designated by Him as the Most Great Prison, which is deeply significant considering the conditions under which He suffered in the ‘Black-Pit’, the Siyah-Chal, in Tehran. He had just arrived when he was forced to sell His carpet, the carpet He used to sleep on, to pay for the funeral expenses of one of the members of His entourage. Even after paying the expenses, the body was still treated very disrespectfully, but He had to make the attempt. It was while confined to this Cell that He sacrificed His son. Many, many other afflictions were faced by Him there.

Many events of note also took place in this Cell, one of which was His giving the Tablet to the Shah of Persia to Badi for its delivery. Baha’u’llah had written the Tablet prior to His arrival in Acco, but there was not a believer at that time who exhibited the necessary levels of devotion and sacrifice. So to give the Tablet to Badi, He bound the eyes of the guards so that Badi could be smuggled into His presence and safely back out again. The second Tablet to Napoleon and the Tablet to Queen Victoria were also written from this Cell.