In the Books of the Prophets certain glad tidings are recorded which are
absolutely true and free from doubt. The East has ever been the dawning
point of the Sun of Reality. All the Prophets of God have appeared there.
The religions of God have been promulgated, the teachings of God have been
spread and the law of God founded in the East. The Orient has always been
the center of lights. The West has acquired illumination from the East,
but in some respects the reflection of the light has been greater in the
Occident. This is especially true of Christianity. Christ appeared in
Palestine, and His teachings were founded there. Although the doors of the
Kingdom were opened in that country and the bestowals of Divinity were
spread broadcast from its center, the people of the West have embraced and
promulgated Christianity more fully than those in the East. The Sun of
Reality shone forth from the horizon of the East, but its heat and ray are
most resplendent in the West, where the radiant standard of Christ has
been upraised. I have great hopes that the lights of Baha'u'llah's
appearance may also find the fullest manifestation and reflection in these
western regions, for the teachings of Baha'u'llah are especially
applicable to the conditions of the people here. The western nations are
endowed with the capability of understanding the rational and peerless
words of Baha'u'llah and realizing that the essence of the teachings of
all the former Prophets can be found in His utterance.
The teachings of Christ have been promulgated by Baha'u'llah, Who has also
revealed new teachings applicable to present conditions in the world of
humanity. He has trained the people of the East through the power and
protection of the Holy Spirit, cemented the souls of humanity together and
established the foundations of international unity.
Through the power of His words the hearts of the people of all religions
have been attuned in harmony. For instance, among the Baha'is in Persia
there are Christians, Muslims, Zoroastrians, Jews and many others of
varying denominations and beliefs who have been brought together in unity
and love in the Cause of Baha'u'llah. Although these people were formerly
hostile and antagonistic, filled with hatred and bitterness toward each
other, bloodthirsty and pillaging, considering that animosity and attack
were the means of attaining the good pleasure of God, they have now become
loving and filled with the radiant zeal of fellowship and brotherhood, the
purpose of them all being service to the world of humanity, promotion of
international peace, the unification of the divine religions and deeds of
universal philanthropy. By their words and actions they are proving the
verity of Baha'u'llah.
Consider the animosity and hatred existing today between the various
nations of the world. What disagreements and hostilities arise, what
warfare and contention, how much bloodshed, what injustice and tyranny!
Just now there is war in eastern Turkey, also war between Turkey and
Italy. Nations are devoted to conquest and bloodshed, filled with the
animus of religious hatred, seeking the good pleasure of God by killing
and destroying those whom in their blindness they consider enemies. How
ignorant they are! That which is forbidden by God they consider acceptable
to Him. God is love; God seeketh fellowship, purity, sanctity and
long-suffering; these are the attributes of Divinity. Therefore, these
warring, raging nations have arisen against Divinity, imagining they are
serving God. What gross ignorance this is! What injustice, blindness and
lack of realization! Briefly, we must strive with heart and soul in order
that this darkness of the contingent world may be dispelled, that the
lights of the Kingdom shall shine upon all the horizons, the world of
humanity become illumined, the image of God become apparent in human
mirrors, the law of God be well established and that all regions of the
world shall enjoy peace, comfort and composure beneath the equitable
protection of God. My admonition and exhortation to you is this: Be kind
to all people, love humanity, consider all mankind as your relations and
servants of the most high God. Strive day and night that animosity and
contention may pass away from the hearts of men, that all religions shall
become reconciled and the nations love each other so that no racial,
religious or political prejudice may remain and the world of humanity
behold God as the beginning and end of all existence. God has created all,
and all return to God. Therefore, love humanity with all your heart and
soul. If you meet a poor man, assist him; if you see the sick, heal him;
reassure the affrighted one, render the cowardly noble and courageous,
educate the ignorant, associate with the stranger. Emulate God. Consider
how kindly, how lovingly He deals with all, and follow His example. You
must treat people in accordance with the divine precepts--in other words,
treat them as kindly as God treats them, for this is the greatest
attainment possible for the world of humanity.
Furthermore, know ye that God has created in man the power of reason,
whereby man is enabled to investigate reality. God has not intended man to
imitate blindly his fathers and ancestors. He has endowed him with mind,
or the faculty of reasoning, by the exercise of which he is to investigate
and discover the truth, and that which he finds real and true he must
accept. He must not be an imitator or blind follower of any soul. He must
not rely implicitly upon the opinion of any man without investigation;
nay, each soul must seek intelligently and independently, arriving at a
real conclusion and bound only by that reality. The greatest cause of
bereavement and disheartening in the world of humanity is ignorance based
upon blind imitation. It is due to this that wars and battles prevail;
from this cause hatred and animosity arise continually among mankind.
Through failure to investigate reality the Jews rejected Jesus Christ.
They were expecting His coming; by day and night they mourned and
lamented, saying, "O God! Hasten Thou the day of the advent of Christ,"
expressing most intense longing for the Messiah; but when Christ appeared,
they denied and rejected Him, treated Him with arrogant contempt,
sentenced Him to death and finally crucified Him. Why did this happen?
Because they were blindly following imitations, believing that which had
descended to them as a heritage from their fathers and ancestors,
tenaciously holding to it and refusing to investigate the reality of
Christ. Therefore, they were deprived of the bounties of Christ, whereas
if they had forsaken imitations and investigated the reality of the
Messiah, they would have surely been guided to believing in Him. Instead
of this they said, "We have heard from our fathers and have read in the
Old Testament that Christ must come from an unknown place; now we find
that this one has come from Nazareth." Steeped in the literal
interpretation and imitating the beliefs of fathers and ancestors, they
failed to understand the fact that although the body of Jesus came from
Nazareth, the reality of the Christ came from the unknown place of the
divine Kingdom. They also said that the scepter of Christ would be of
iron--that is to say, He should wield a sword. When Christ appeared, He did
possess a sword; but it was the sword of His tongue with which He
separated the false from the true. But the Jews were blind to the
spiritual significance and symbolism of the prophetic words. They also
expected that the Messiah would sit upon the throne of David, whereas
Christ had neither throne nor semblance of sovereignty; nay, rather, He
was a poor man, apparently abject and vanquished; therefore, how could He
be the veritable Christ? This was one of their most insistent objections
based upon ancestral interpretation and teaching. In reality, Christ was
glorified with an eternal sovereignty and everlasting dominion--spiritual
and not temporal. His throne and Kingdom were established in human hearts,
where He reigns with power and authority without end. Notwithstanding the
fulfillment of all the prophetic signs in Christ, the Jews denied Him and
entered the period of their deprivation because of their allegiance to
imitations and ancestral forms.
Among other objections they said, "We are promised through the tongue of
the prophets that Christ at the time of His coming would proclaim the law
of the Torah, whereas now we see this person abrogating the commands of
the Pentateuch, disturbing our blessed Sabbath and abolishing the law of
divorce. He has left nothing of the ancient law of Moses; therefore, he is
the enemy of Moses." In reality, Christ proclaimed and completed the law
of Moses. He was the very helper and assister of Moses. He spread the Book
of Moses throughout the world and established anew the fundamentals of the
law revealed by Him. He abolished certain unimportant laws and forms which
were no longer compatible with the exigencies of the time, such as divorce
and plurality of wives. The Jews did not comprehend this, and the cause of
their ignorance was blind and tenacious adherence to imitations of ancient
forms and teachings; therefore, they finally sentenced Christ to death.
They, likewise, said, "Through the tongues of the prophets it was
announced that during the time of Christ's appearance the justice of God
would prevail throughout the world, tyranny and oppression would be
unknown, justice would even extend to the animal kingdom, ferocious beasts
would associate in gentleness and peace, the wolf and the lamb would drink
from the same spring, the lion and the deer meet in the same meadow, the
eagle and quail dwell together in the same nest; but instead of this, we
see that during the time of this supposed Christ the Romans have conquered
Palestine and are ruling it with extreme tyranny, justice is nowhere
apparent, and signs of peace in the animal kingdom are conspicuously
absent." These statements and attitudes of the Jews were inherited from
their fathers--blind allegiance to literal expectations which did not come
to pass during the time of Jesus Christ. The real purport of these
prophetic statements was that various peoples, symbolized by the wolf and
lamb, between whom love and fellowship were impossible would come together
during the Messiah's reign, drink from the same fountain of life in His
teachings and become His devoted followers. This was realized when peoples
of all religions, nationalities and dispositions became united in their
beliefs and followed Christ in humility, associating in love and
brotherhood under the shadow of His divine protection. The Jews, being
blind to this and holding to their bigoted imitations, were insolent and
arrogant toward Christ and crucified Him. Had they investigated the
reality of Christ, they would have beheld His beauty and truth.
God has given man the eye of investigation by which he may see and
recognize truth. He has endowed man with ears that he may hear the message
of reality and conferred upon him the gift of reason by which he may
discover things for himself. This is his endowment and equipment for the
investigation of reality. Man is not intended to see through the eyes of
another, hear through another's ears nor comprehend with another's brain.
Each human creature has individual endowment, power and responsibility in
the creative plan of God. Therefore, depend upon your own reason and
judgment and adhere to the outcome of your own investigation; otherwise,
you will be utterly submerged in the sea of ignorance and deprived of all
the bounties of God. Turn to God, supplicate humbly at His threshold,
seeking assistance and confirmation, that God may rend asunder the veils
that obscure your vision. Then will your eyes be filled with illumination,
face to face you will behold the reality of God and your heart become
completely purified from the dross of ignorance, reflecting the glories
and bounties of the Kingdom.
Holy souls are like soil which has been plowed and tilled with much
earnest labor, the thorns and thistles cast aside and all weeds uprooted.
Such soil is most fruitful, and the harvest from it will prove full and
plenteous. In this same way man must free himself from the weeds of
ignorance, thorns of superstitions and thistles of imitations that he may
discover reality in the harvests of true knowledge. Otherwise, the
discovery of reality is impossible, contention and divergence of religious
belief will always remain, and mankind, like ferocious wolves, will rage
and attack each other in hatred and antagonism. We supplicate God that He
may destroy the veils which limit our vision and that these becloudings,
which darken the way of the manifestation of the shining lights, may be
dispelled in order that the effulgent Sun of Reality may shine forth. We
implore and invoke God, seeking His assistance and confirmation. Man is a
child of God, most noble, lofty and beloved by God, his Creator.
Therefore, he must ever strive that the divine bounties and virtues
bestowed upon him may prevail and control him. Just now the soil of human
hearts seems like black earth, but in the innermost substance of this dark
soil there are thousands of fragrant flowers latent. We must endeavor to
cultivate and awaken these potentialities, discover the secret treasure in
this very mine and depository of God, bring forth these resplendent powers
long hidden in human hearts. Then will the glories of both worlds be
blended and increased and the quintessence of human existence be made
manifest.
We must not be content with simply following a certain course because we
find our fathers pursued that course. It is the duty of everyone to
investigate reality, and investigation of reality by another will not do
for us. If all in the world were rich and one man poor, of what use are
these riches to that man? If all the world be virtuous and a man steeped
in vice, what good results are forthcoming from him? If all the world be
resplendent and a man blind, where are his benefits? If all the world be
in plenty and a man hungry, what sustenance does he derive? Therefore,
every man must be an investigator for himself. Ideas and beliefs left by
his fathers and ancestors as a heritage will not suffice, for adherence to
these are but imitations, and imitations have ever been a cause of
disappointment and misguidance. Be investigators of reality that you may
attain the verity of truth and life.
You have asked why it was necessary for the soul that was from God to make
this journey back to God? Would you like to understand the reality of this
question just as I teach it, or do you wish to hear it as the world
teaches it? For if I should answer you according to the latter way, this
would be but imitation and would not make the subject clear.
The reality underlying this question is that the evil spirit, Satan or
whatever is interpreted as evil, refers to the lower nature in man. This
baser nature is symbolized in various ways. In man there are two
expressions: One is the expression of nature; the other, the expression of
the spiritual realm. The world of nature is defective. Look at it clearly,
casting aside all superstition and imagination. If you should leave a man
uneducated and barbarous in the wilds of Africa, would there be any doubt
about his remaining ignorant? God has never created an evil spirit; all
such ideas and nomenclature are symbols expressing the mere human or
earthly nature of man. It is an essential condition of the soil of earth
that thorns, weeds and fruitless trees may grow from it. Relatively
speaking, this is evil; it is simply the lower state and baser product of
nature.
It is evident, therefore, that man is in need of divine education and
inspiration, that the spirit and bounties of God are essential to his
development. That is to say, the teachings of Christ and the Prophets are
necessary for his education and guidance. Why? Because They are the divine
Gardeners Who till the earth of human hearts and minds. They educate man,
uproot the weeds, burn the thorns and remodel the waste places into
gardens and orchards where fruitful trees grow. The wisdom and purpose of
Their training is that man must pass from degree to degree of progressive
unfoldment until perfection is attained. For instance, if a man should
live his entire life in one city, he cannot gain a knowledge of the whole
world. To become perfectly informed he must visit other cities, see the
mountains and valleys, cross the rivers and traverse the plains. In other
words, without progressive and universal education perfection will not be
attained.
Man must walk in many paths and be subjected to various processes in his
evolution upward. Physically he is not born in full stature but passes
through consecutive stages of fetus, infant, childhood, youth, maturity
and old age. Suppose he had the power to remain young throughout his life.
He then would not understand the meaning of old age and could not believe
it existed. If he could not realize the condition of old age, he would not
know that he was young. He would not know the difference between young and
old without experiencing the old. Unless you have passed through the state
of infancy, how would you know this was an infant beside you? If there
were no wrong, how would you recognize the right? If it were not for sin,
how would you appreciate virtue? If evil deeds were unknown, how could you
commend good actions? If sickness did not exist, how would you understand
health? Evil is nonexistent; it is the absence of good. Sickness is the
loss of health; poverty, the lack of riches. When wealth disappears, you
are poor; you look within the treasure box but find nothing there. Without
knowledge there is ignorance; therefore, ignorance is simply the lack of
knowledge. Death is the absence of life. Therefore, on the one hand, we
have existence; on the other, nonexistence, negation or absence of
existence.
Briefly, the journey of the soul is necessary. The pathway of life is the
road which leads to divine knowledge and attainment. Without training and
guidance the soul could never progress beyond the conditions of its lower
nature, which is ignorant and defective.