 All Peoples--One Common Faith:
- The Baha'i Faith is a world religion. It aims to unite all
races and peoples in one universal Cause and one common Faith.
Baha'is are followers of Baha'u'llah. We believe Him to be the
Promised One of all Ages and Scriptures. He says:
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- "That which the Lord hath ordained as the soverign remedy
and mightiest instrument for the healing of all the world is
the union of all its peoples in one universal Cause, one common
Faith."
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- God is Unknowable:
- Bahá'u'lláh teaches that God is unknowable
in His Essence. This means that we should not make images of
God in our mind, thinking of Him, for example, as a man. In general,
that which has been created cannot understand its creator. For
instance, a table cannot understand the nature of the carpenter
who made it. The carpenter’s existence is totally incomprehensible
to the objects he makes.
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- God is the Creator:
- God is the Creator of all things. He has made the heavens
and earth, with its mountains and valleys, its deserts and seas,
its rivers, its meadows and trees. God has created the animals
and God has created the human being. The reason behind our creation,
we are told by Bahá'u'lláh, is love. He says:
- “O Son of Man! I loved thy creation, hence I created
thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and
fill thy world with the spirit of life.”
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- Eternal Covenant:
- So although God’s existence is far beyond our understanding,
His love touches our lives and our beings ceaselessly. The way
this love flows to us is through His Eternal Covenant. According
to this Eternal Covenant, God never leaves us alone and without
guidance. Whenever humanity moves away from Him and forgets His
Teachings, a Manifestation of God appears and makes His Will
and Purpose known to us.
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- Manifestations of God:
- The word “manifest” means to reveal, to bring forth
something that was not known before. The Manifestations of God
are those special Beings Who reveal to humanity the Word and
the Will of God; thus when we listen to Them, we are responding
to the Call of God.
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- There is an example from the physical world that helps us
to understand the concept of “Manifestation” as taught
by Baha’u’lllah. In this world, the sun is the source
of all warmth and light, without which life would not exist on
the planet. Yet the sun itself does not descend to earth, and
if we tried to approach it, we would be totally consumed. But
suppose we take a well-polished mirror and point it towards the
sun. In it we will see the image of the sun, and the more perfectly
polished the mirror, the more perfect the image will be. The
Manifestations of God are like perfect Mirrors that reflect the
Light of God in all its Splendor. And all these Mirrors reflect
the same Light. While God is beyond our reach, these perfect
Beings come to us from time to time, live among us, give us guidance,
and fill us with the energy we need to progress, materially and
spiritually.
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- The Plight of Humanity and
the Promise of This Day:
- God’s Manifestation, Christ, Whose Station is that of
the Son of God, gave Teachings to humanity some two thousand
years ago. Now, God has sent a new Manifestation, Bahá'u'lláh,
Whose title means the Glory of God. Bahá'u'lláh’s
Teachings, then are in perfect harmony with the Teachings of
Christ and they address the condition of humanity today. If you
think about the plight of humanity, I am sure you will agree
that the time is right for another Manifestation of God to have
appeared. Here is a a passage from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh
that speaks about the Day in which we live:
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- “This is the Day in which God’s most excellent
favors have been poured out upon men, the Day in which His most
mighty grace hath been infused into all created things. It is
incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their
differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath
the shadow of the Tree of His care and loving-kindness.”Bahá'u'lláh's
Photograph
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- Unity of Humanity:
- The next of Bahá'u'lláh’s Teachings is
related to the aim of the Bahá'í Faith which is
to unify humanity. In the Bahá'í Teachings we are
told that we are all the fruits of one tree and the leaves of
one branch. Although we differ from one another physically and
emotionally, although we have different talents and capacities,
we all spring from the same root; we all belong to the same human
family.
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- Humanity can be likened to a vast garden in which grow side
by side flowers of every form, color and perfume. The charm and
beauty of the garden lie in this diversity. We should not allow
the differences that exist among us—in our physical characteristics,
our temperaments, our backgrounds, our thoughts and opinions—to
give rise to conflict and strife. We should see the members of
the human race as beautiful flowers growing in the garden of
humanity and rejoice in belonging to this garden.
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- A Divine Design for Unity:
- Although the oneness of humankind is an undeniable truth,
the peoples of earth are so far from it that unifying them is
no easy task. If you choose to join the Bahá'í
community—and it would bring me so much happiness if you
would do so—you will participate with the rest of us in
our efforts to build and maintain unity. We are all striving
to bring our thoughts and actions in line with our belief in
the oneness of humankind. We are told that, when a thought of
war enters our minds, we should immediately replace it with a
thought of peace. When a feeling of hate begins to take shape
in our hearts, we should immediately replace it with a feeling
of love. We should do everything possible to overcome our prejudices.
Prejudices of race, color, nationality, culture, religion, and
sex, these are among the greatest obstacles to building a better
world. So many passages in the Bahá'í writings
teach us how to walk in the ways of unity and how to help others
take the same path. There is a wonderful passage from one of
the talks of ‘'Abdu'l-Bahá, (more of Him later) which
says:
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- “Bahá'u'lláh has drawn the circle of unity,
He has made a design for the uniting of all the peoples, and
for the gathering of them all under the shelter of the tent of
universal unity. This is the work of the Divine Bounty, and we
must all strive with heart and soul until we have the reality
of unity in our midst as we work, so will strength be given unto
us.”
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- Baha'u'llah, the Manifestation
of God for Today:
- Bahá'u'lláh was born in 1817 in Tihran, the
capital of Iran. From His early childhood, He showed signs of
greatness. He received some instruction at home, but did not
need to attend school, for He was endowed by God with innate
knowledge. Bahá'u'lláh came from a noble family
and when he was a young man, was offered a high position in the
court of the King, but He refused it. He wished to dedicate His
time to helping the oppressed, the sick and the poor, and to
champion the cause of justice.
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- There are two aspects of Bahá'u'lláh’s
life which deserve mention in particular. One is the suffering
He endured. The other is the tremendous influence He had on the
hearts and minds of people. These actually characterize the lives
of all the manifestations of God.Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh
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- Suffering and Influence:
- Bahá'u'lláh’s sufferings began the moment
he arose to proclaim the Cause of God. His life was one of exile,
imprisonment and persecution. He was put in chains in a dark
and dismal dungeon in Tihran. He was exiled four times from land
to land, finally being sent to the Prison City of ‘Akká
in the Ottoman Empire. So intense were His sufferings there that
He has referred to ‘Akká as the “Most Great
Prison”. In one of His Tablets, we read:
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- “Remember My days during thy days, and My distress and
banishment in this remote prison. And be thou so steadfast in
My love that thy heart shall not waver, even if the swords of
the enemies rain blows upon thee and all the heavens and the
earth arise against thee.”
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- Bahá'u'lláh
said this about His sufferings:
- “The Ancient Beauty hath consented to be bound with
chains that mankind may be released from its bondage, and hath
accepted to be made a prisoner within this most mighty Stronghold
that the whole world may attain unto true liberty. He hath drained
to its dregs the cup of sorrow, that ll the peoples of the earth
may attain unto abiding joy, and be filled with gladness. This
is of the mercy of your Lord, the Compassionate, the Most Merciful.
We have accepted to be abased, O believers in the Unity of God,
that ye may be exalted, and have suffered manifold afflictions,
that ye might prosper and flourish. He Who hath come to build
anew the whole world, behold, how they that have joined partners
with God have forced Him to dwell within the most desolate of
cities!”
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- Light of Truth is not easily
extinguished:
- Every effort was made by two powerful courts—those of
the King of Iran and the Ottoman Emperor—to oppose Bahá'u'lláh
and his Teachings. But the Light of Truth is not easily extinguished.
The very water that is poured on this fire to put out its flame
turns into oil, and the fire burns with more intensity. Nothing
could be done to stop Bahá'u'lláh’s growing
influence. The farther the authorities banished Him, the greater
the number of people who were attracted to His Teachings and
recognized His Power and Majesty. In spite of constant persecution,
Bahá'u'lláh continued to reveal the Word of God
for more than forty years and brought so much love and spiritual
energy into this world that the final victory of His Cause is
certain.The Shrine of Baha'u'llah at night
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- Bahá'u'lláh passed away in 1892. His Shrine,
which we consider the Holiest Spot on earth, is located near
the city of ‘Akká.
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- The Bab--"The Gate":
- Several years before Bahá'u'lláh proclaimed
His Mission, God sent a special messenger to announce His coming.
This great messenger took the title “The Báb which
means the gate. He was indeed a gate to the knowledge of God
and to a new era in human existence. For six years he taught
ceaselessly that the appearance of the new Manifestation of God
was near and prepared the way for His coming. He told the people
that they were witnessing the dawn of a new “Age, the dawn
of the Promised Day of God. He called upon them to purify their
hearts from earthly vanities so that they could recognize Him
Whom God would soon manifest.
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- Thousands upon thousands of people accepted the Message of
the Báb and began to follow His Teachings. But the government
of Iran and the powerful clergy who ruled over the masses rose
against Him. His followers were persecuted and large numbers
were put death. The Báb Himself at the age of 31 was martyred
by a regiment of soldiers who, at the orders of the government,
suspended Him in a public square and opened fire on Him.
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- Here are some of the Words
of the Báb:
- “Is there any Remover of difficulties save God? Say:
Praised be God! He is God! All are His servants, and all abide
by His bidding!”
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- “Say: God sufficeth all things above all things, and
nothing in the heavens or in the earth but God sufficeth. Verily,
He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.”
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- Many Bahá'ís know especially the first prayer
by heart and say it either aloud or mentally in times of difficulties.
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- Following His martyrdom, the remains of the Báb were
recovered by His followers and taken from place to place, always
hidden from the enemies of the Faith. Finally they were transferred
to Mount Carmel in the Holy Land.
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- Spiritual and Administrative
World Center in the Holy Land:
- Entrance to the Shrine of Baha'u'llahHis Shrine and a few
other Holy Places sit in Haifa and in ‘Akká, which
is across the bay. These twin cities are today the spiritual
and administrative world center of the Bahá'í Faith—the
spiritual center because it is here that the Shrines of the Báb
and Bahá'u'lláh, as well as many other Holy Places,
are located, and the administrative center because the Seat of
the supreme governing body of the Faith the Universal House of
Justice, is also on Mount Carmel.
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- The idea most central to our lives as Bahá'ís
is that we have entered into a Covenant with Bahá'u'lláh.
As you know, in all other religions, after the passing of the
Manifestation, His followers had thousands of disputes among
themselves and, as a result, split the religion into many sects.
The cause of disunity was sometimes the desire for leadership
of certain ambitious individuals. But, when differences of opinion
arose between even sincere believers about what the Words of
the Manifestation meant, no one had been authorized by the manifestation
Himself to settle the disagreements, and this contributed to
conflict and dissension. Each set of interpretations led to the
creation of a different sect.
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- Bahá'u'lláh has protected His Faith against
such division by endowing it with a unique power, the power of
the Covenant. Before His passing, He stated in the clearest terms,
in writing, that after Him, all Bahá'ís should
turn to 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
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- Center of the Covenant:
- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'u'lláh’s oldest
Son, was thus named the sole Interpreter of His Words and the
Center of His Covenant. He had been raised by Bahá'u'lláh
Himself, had recognized His Station even as a child, and had
shared the sufferings of His Father. He was a most precious gift
given to humanity, the perfect Exemplar of all Bahá'í
Teachings.
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- 'Abdu'l-Bahá’ lived on this earth for 77 years.
He was born on the same night the Báb declared His Mission
in 1844 and passed away in November 1921. His life was filled
with affliction, but to everyone who entered His presence He
brought the greatest joy and happiness. After the passing of
His Father, the responsibility for the Bahá'í community
fell on His shoulders, and He labored day and night to spread
the Faith throughout the East and West. He wrote thousands of
letters, called Tablets, to individuals and groups everywhere
and clarified the Teachings of His Father. His interpretations
are now an essential part of the Writings of the Bahá'í
Faith.
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- By focusing on 'Abdu'l-Bahá as the Center of Bahá'u'lláh’s
Covenant, the Bahá'ís of the world remain united
in their efforts to live a Bahá'í life and to create
a new civilization. We remember that as part of our promise to
Bahá'u'lláh, we are to love one another and, in
'Abdu'l-Bahá, we see the perfect example of one who loves.
We remember that we must uphold justice, that we must be generous,
that we must overlook the faults of others, and from the example
of 'Abdu'l-Bahá we learn justice, generosity and forgiveness.
More than anything else, by keeping our focus on 'Abdu'l-Bahá,
we are always aware of our covenant with Bahá'u'lláh
that we will not allow the unity of His followers to be broken
and that, united as a worldwide community, we will labor until
the oneness of humankind has been firmly established.
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- The Guardian:
- In His Will and Testament, 'Abdu'l-Bahá named His
grandson the Guardian of the Faith and after His passing, Shoghi
Effendi became the authorized interpreter of the Teachings. For
36 years, he continued the work of His Grandfather, clarifying
the Words of the Manifestation and firmly establishing His Faith
in allo parts of the planet. Five and a half years after his
passing, the Bahá'ís of the world elected the Universal
House of Justice is the supreme institution of the Faith to which
all the Bahá'ís of the world now turn.
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- Observe My Commandments for
the Love of My Beauty:
- A most important aspect of every religion is the laws that
the Manifestation brings to humanity in order to guide it in
the right path. Some of these laws and commandments are eternal,
others change as humanity progresses and evolves. In the Faith
we are taught that we should not think of Bahá'í
laws as a series of do’s and don’ts. Bahá'u'lláh
tells us:
- “Know assuredly that My commandments are the lamps of
My loving providence among My servants, and the keys of My mercy
for My creatures.”
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- Nor should we obey these laws out of fear of punishment,
for He clearly has sated in His Most Holy Book:
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- “Observe My commandments, for the love of My beauty.”
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- Prayer---Spiritual Sustenance:
- Here are some examples of Bahá'í laws. In the
physical world, human beings have to eat everyday. This is a
requirement of the human body; if we don’t eat, we will
get sick and quickly die. We can say, then, that eating daily
is a law of physical existence which has to be obeyed. In the
same way one of the commandments of Bahá'u'lláh
is that we should pray every day. Like our body, our sould needs
constant nourishment, and prayer provides the nourishment for
our spiritual growth. There are many beautiful prayers revealed
by 'Abdu'l-Bahá which we can say when we are alone or
recite in meetings. Some of these prayers are special, and some
are obligatory. One obligatory prayer is recited by Bahá'ís
every day sometime between noon and sunset. It says:
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- “I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me
to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment,
to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy
wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril,
the Self-Subsisting.”
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- Backbiting Prohibited:
- In another commandment, Bahá'u'lláh prohibits
backbiting and calumny. This is important because, if you think
about it, one of the greatest enemies of unity is backbiting.
And practice among most of humanity to talk about other people’s
faults in their absence. Everybody seems to be concerned with
everybody else’s shortcomings, which are made bigger and
bigger as they are constantly mentioned. 'Abdu'l-Bahá
tells us to do just the opposite. If we see ten good qualities
in someone and one fault, we should concentrate on the tend,
and even if a person has ten faults and only one good quality
we should focus on that one quality.
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- “O Companion of My Throne! Hear no evil, and see no
evil, abase not thyself, neither sigh and weep. Speak no evil,
that thou mayest not hear it spoken unto thee, and magnify not
the faults of others that thine own faults may not appear great;
and wish not the abasement of anyone, that thine own abasement
be not exposed. Live then the moment, with thy mind stainless,
thy heart unsullied, thy thoughts pure, and thy nature sanctified,
so that, free and content, thou mayest put away this mortal frame,
and repair unto the mystic paradise and abide in the eternal
kingdom forevermore.”
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- Drinking Alcohol is One of
the Greatest Social Ills Today:
- You should also know that Bahá'u'lláh prohibits
the drinking of alcohol and, of course, substance abuse. Drinking
alcohol is really one of the greatest social ills that exists
today in the world. It is one of the most common causes of violence
and the ruin of healthy family life. It interferes with their
minds and makes them lose their ability to think clearly. Drinking
makes people capable of acting in shameful ways, when we have
actually been created noble. Bahá'u'lláh says:
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- “O Son of Spirit! I created three rich, why dost thou
bring thyself down to poverty? Noble I have made thee, wherewith
dost thou abase thyself? Out of the essence of knowledge I gave
thee being, why seekest thou enlightenment from anyone besie
Me? Out of the clay of love I molded three, how dost thou busy
thyself with another? Turn thy sight unto thyself, that thou
mayest find Me standing within thee, mighty, powerful and self-subsisting.”
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- Obligation to Educate All
Children:
- Another commandment of Bahá'u'lláh is about
the obligation of aprents and society to educate children. 'Abdu'l-Bahá’s
Writings explain it well:
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- “Therefore, the beloved of God and the maid-servants
of the merciful must train their children with life and heart
and teach them in the school of virtue and perfection. They must
not be lax in this matter; they must not be inefficient. Truy,
if a babe did not live at all it were better than to let it grow
ignorant, for that innocent babe, in later life, would become
afflicted with innumberable defects, responsible to and questioned
by God, reproached and rejected by the people. What a sin this
would be and what an omission!”
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- “The first duty of the beloved of God and the maid-servants
of the Merciful is this: They must strive by all possible means
to educate both sexes, male and female; girls like boys; there
is no difference whatsoever between them. The ignorance of both
is blameworthy, and negligence in both cases is reprovable. ‘Are
they who know and they who do not know equal?’”
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- Building a World Civilization:
- The Bahá'í Faith is a very organized religion
whose aim is nothing less than the unification of the entire
human race. We are building a world civilization. The Universal
House of Justice tells us that there are three participants in
this work, each with a very important role.
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- Individiuals: The first participant is the individual believer.
It is the duty of this individual to remain firm in the Covenant,
to strive daily to bring his or her life in line with Bahá'u'lláh’s
Teachings, and to serve humanity, always conscious of the fact
that life does not end with death and that one’s relation
with God is eternal. Further, our souls progress toward God for
all eternity.
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- The Community: Human beings were not created to exist alone.
We live in communities. In the local community, we learn to cooperate
with one another, grow together, and become united. Each believer
also belongs to a national community and the worldwide Baha'i
community.
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- Bahá'í World Centre on Mount Carmel, Haifa.The
Institutions: Baha'u'llah brought His own Administrative Order.
There are no priests or clergy in the Baha'i Faith so individuals
must assume many of those duties. Other duties are assumed by
the Local Spiritual Assembly. The Local Spiritual Assembly is
comprised of nine elected individuals and guides affairs of the
local community. The national Spiritual Assembly guides affairs
of the national community and the Universal House of Justice
is the supreme institution.
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- Here is a prayer from 'Abdu'l-Baha
asking for God's help:
- "O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart.
Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand.
- "Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be
sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being.
- "O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will
I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things
of life.
- "O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself.
I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord."
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