When we look upon the kingdoms of creation below man, we find three forms
or planes of existence which await education and development. For
instance, the function of a gardener is to till the soil of the mineral
kingdom and plant a tree which under his training and cultivation will
attain perfection of growth. If it be wild and fruitless, it may be made
fruitful and prolific by grafting. If small and unsightly, it will become
lofty, beautiful and verdant under the gardener's training, whereas a tree
bereft of his cultivation retrogresses daily, its fruit grows acrid and
bitter as the trees of the jungle, or it may become entirely barren and
bereft of its fruitage. Likewise, we observe that animals which have
undergone training in their sphere of limitation will progress and advance
unmistakably, become more beautiful in appearance and increase in
intelligence. For instance, how intelligent and knowing the Arabian horse
has become through training, even how polite this horse has become through
education. As to the human world: It is more in need of guidance and
education than the lower creatures. Reflect upon the vast difference
between the inhabitants of Africa and those of America. Here the people
have been civilized and uplifted; there they are in the utmost and abject
state of savagery. What is the cause of their savagery and the reason of
your civilization? It is evident that this difference is due to education
and the lack of education. Consider, then, the effectiveness of education
in the human kingdom. It makes the ignorant wise, the tyrant merciful, the
blind seeing, the deaf attentive, even the imbecile intelligent. How vast
this difference. How wide the chasm which separates the educated man from
the man who lacks teaching and training. This is the effect when the
teacher is merely an ordinary teacher.
But--praise be to God!--your Teacher and Instructor is Baha'u'llah. He is
the Educator of the Orient and Occident. He is the Teacher of the very
world of divinity and spirituality, the Sun of Truth, the Word of God. The
lights of His education are radiating even as the sun. See what it has
accomplished, how it is developing all humanity so that I, a Persian, have
come to this meeting of revered souls upon the American continent and am
standing here expounding to you in the greatest love. This is through the
training of Baha'u'llah, which can unite and has united these hearts. In
this way it has enlightened the world. Even so it has breathed the spirit
of God into men. Even so it has resuscitated the hearts of men.
Therefore, praise be to God that you have been brought under the education
of this One Who is the very Sun of Reality and Who is shining
resplendently upon all humankind, endowing all with a life that is
everlasting.
Praise be to God a thousand times!
2 May 1912
Talk at Hotel Plaza
Chicago, Illinois