Praise be to God! It is with a deep realization of happiness that I am
present here this evening, for I am looking upon the faces of those who
are earnest in their search for reality and who sincerely long to attain
knowledge of truth. God has created man and endowed him with the power of
reason whereby he may arrive at valid conclusions. Therefore, man must
endeavor in all things to investigate the fundamental reality. If he does
not independently investigate, he has failed to utilize the talent God has
bestowed upon him. I am pleased with the American people because, as a
rule, they are independent seekers of the truth; their minds are actively
employed instead of remaining idle and unproductive. This is most
praiseworthy.
Some souls imagine that there is a cessation to the bounties of God, as if
at one time the divine bestowals are poured out, at another time withheld
from mankind and ceasing. If we carefully reflect upon this matter, we
find that such a statement is in fact a denial of Divinity, for the
reality of Divinity is evidenced by virtue of its outpourings or
bestowals. The cessation of the bestowals of God at any time would be
equivalent to the cessation of the sovereignty of God. The sun is the sun
because of its ray and heat; it is the sun because of its bestowal; but if
at any time its effulgence, splendor and radiance should cease to emanate,
it would no longer be the sun. Consequently, it is inconceivable that the
bounties of Divinity should cease, for the attributes of Divinity are
everexistent. God has ever been divine; He hath ever exercised His
sovereignty and still possesses everlasting divinity and sovereignty. He
is like the sun, which has ever had its splendor, heat and radiance and
will continue to possess these bounties and attributes. If at any time its
splendor and heat should cease, it would no longer be pronounced the sun.
Therefore, the sound reasoning mind concludes that the bounties of the
Holy Spirit are continuous and that holy souls are ever the recipients of
these divine emanations. The potency of the Holy Spirit is everlasting,
not temporary; for the sanctity of the Holy Spirit is its power and
efficacy manifest in the spirits it quickens. We pray that all of us may
become recipients of its bestowals, that we may be illumined by the lights
of heaven, edified through the teachings of God and imbued with the
virtues of divine character, as mirrors reflecting the light of the sun.
Unless the mirror reflects the sunlight, it is only dark, inanimate
matter. Likewise, the hearts and spirits of mankind, when deprived and
without their portion of the bounties of the Holy Spirit, linger in the
abyss of darkness and ignorance.
From time immemorial the divine teachings have been successively revealed,
and the bounties of the Holy Spirit have ever been emanating. All the
teachings are one reality, for reality is single and does not admit
multiplicity. Therefore, the divine Prophets are one, inasmuch as They
reveal the one reality, the Word of God. Abraham announced teachings
founded upon reality, Moses proclaimed reality, Christ established reality
and Baha'u'llah was the Messenger and Herald of reality. But humanity,
having forsaken the one essential and fundamental reality which underlies
the religion of God, and holding blindly to imitations of ancestral forms
and interpretations of belief, is separated and divided in the strife,
contention and bigotry of various sects and religious factions. If all
should be true to the original reality of the Prophet and His teaching,
the peoples and nations of the world would become unified, and these
differences which cause separation would be lost sight of. To accomplish
this great and needful unity in reality, Baha'u'llah appeared in the
Orient and renewed the foundations of the divine teachings. His revelation
of the Word embodies completely the teachings of all the Prophets,
expressed in principles and precepts applicable to the needs and
conditions of the modern world, amplified and adapted to present-day
questions and critical human problems. That is to say, the words of
Baha'u'llah are the essences of the words of the Prophets of the past.
They are the very spirit of the age and the cause of the unity and
illumination of the East and the West. The followers of His teachings are
in conformity with the precepts and commands of all the former heavenly
Messengers. Differences and dissensions, which destroy the foundations of
the world of humanity and are contrary to the will and good pleasure of
God, disappear completely in the light of the revelation of Baha'u'llah;
difficult problems are solved, unity and love are established. For the
good pleasure of God is the effulgence of love and the establishment of
unity and fellowship in the human world, whereas discord, contention,
warfare and strife are satanic outcomes and contrary to the will of the
Merciful. In order that human souls, minds and spirits may attain
advancement, tranquillity and vision in broader horizons of unity and
knowledge, Baha'u'llah proclaimed certain principles or teachings, some of
which I will mention.
First, man must independently investigate reality, for the disagreements
and dissensions which afflict and affect humanity primarily proceed from
imitations of ancestral beliefs and adherences to hereditary forms of
worship. These imitations are accidental and without sanction in the Holy
Books. They are the outcomes of human interpretations and teachings which
have arisen, gradually obscuring the real light of divine meaning and
causing men to differ and dissent. The reality proclaimed in the heavenly
Books and divine teachings is ever conducive to love, unity and
fellowship.
Second, the oneness of the world of humanity shall be realized, accepted
and established. When we reflect upon this blessed principle, it will
become evident and manifest that it is the healing remedy for all human
conditions. All mankind are the servants of the glorious God, our Creator.
He has created all. Assuredly He must have loved them equally; otherwise,
He would not have created them. He protects all. Assuredly He loves His
creatures; otherwise, He would not protect them. He provides for all,
proving His love for all without distinction or preference. He manifests
His perfect goodness and loving-kindness toward all. He does not punish us
for our sins and shortcomings, and we are all immersed in the ocean of His
infinite mercy. Inasmuch as God is clement and loving to His children,
lenient and merciful toward our shortcomings, why should we be unkind and
unforgiving toward each other? As He loves humanity without distinction or
preference, why should we not love all? Can we conceive of a plan and
policy superior to the divine purpose? Manifestly, we cannot. Therefore,
we must strive to do the will of the glorious Lord and emulate His policy
of loving all mankind. The wisdom and policy of God are reality and truth,
whereas human policy is accidental and limited to our finite
understanding. The policy of God is infinite. We must emulate His example.
If a soul be ailing and infirm, we must produce remedies; if ignorant, we
must provide education; if defective, we must train and perfect that which
is lacking; if immature and undeveloped, we must supply the means of
attainment to maturity. No soul should be hated, none neglected; nay,
rather, their very imperfections should demand greater kindness and tender
compassion. Therefore, if we follow the example of the Lord of divinity,
we will love all mankind from our hearts, and the means of the unity of
the world of humanity will become as evident and manifest to us as the
light of the sun. And from our example the light of the love of God will
be enkindled among men. For God is love, and all phenomena find source and
emanation in that divine current of creation. The love of God haloes all
created things. Were it not for the love of God, no animate being would
exist. This is clear, manifest vision and truth unless a man is veiled by
superstitions and a captive to imaginations, differentiating mankind
according to his own estimate, loving some and hating others. Such an
attitude is most unworthy and ignoble.
Third, religion must be the mainspring and source of love in the world,
for religion is the revelation of the will of God, the divine fundamental
of which is love. Therefore, if religion should prove to be the cause of
enmity and hatred instead of love, its absence is preferable to its
existence.
Fourth, religion must reconcile and be in harmony with science and reason.
If the religious beliefs of mankind are contrary to science and opposed to
reason, they are none other than superstitions and without divine
authority, for the Lord God has endowed man with the faculty of reason in
order that through its exercise he may arrive at the verities of
existence. Reason is the discoverer of the realities of things, and that
which conflicts with its conclusions is the product of human fancy and
imagination.
Fifth, prejudice--whether it be religious, racial, patriotic or political
in its origin and aspect--is the destroyer of human foundations and opposed
to the commands of God. God has sent forth His Prophets for the sole
purpose of creating love and unity in the world of human hearts. All the
heavenly Books are the written word of love. If they prove to be the cause
of prejudice and human estrangement, they have become fruitless.
Therefore, religious prejudice is especially opposed to the will and
command of God. Racial and national prejudices which separate mankind into
groups and branches, likewise, have a false and unjustifiable foundation,
for all men are the children of Adam and essentially of one family. There
should be no racial alienation or national division among humankind. Such
distinctions as French, German, Persian, Anglo-Saxon are human and
artificial; they have neither significance nor recognition in the
estimation of God. In His estimate all are one, the children of one
family; and God is equally kind to them. The earth has one surface. God
has not divided this surface by boundaries and barriers to separate races
and peoples. Man has set up and established these imaginary lines, giving
to each restricted area a name and the limitation of a native land or
nationhood. By this division and separation into groups and branches of
mankind, prejudice is engendered which becomes a fruitful source of war
and strife. Impelled by this prejudice, races and nations declare war
against each other; the blood of the innocent is poured out, and the earth
torn by violence. Therefore, it has been decreed by God in this day that
these prejudices and differences shall be laid aside. All are commanded to
seek the good pleasure of the Lord of unity, to follow His command and
obey His will; in this way the world of humanity shall become illumined
with the reality of love and reconciliation.
Sixth, the world of humanity is in need of the confirmations of the Holy
Spirit. True distinction among mankind is through divine bestowals and
receiving the intuitions of the Holy Spirit. If man does not become the
recipient of the heavenly bestowals and spiritual bounties, he remains in
the plane and kingdom of the animal. For the distinction between the
animal and man is that man is endowed with the potentiality of divinity in
his nature, whereas the animal is entirely bereft of that gift and
attainment. Therefore, if a man is bereft of the intuitive breathings of
the Holy Spirit, deprived of divine bestowals, out of touch with the
heavenly world and negligent of the eternal truths, though in image and
likeness he is human, in reality he is an animal; even as Christ declared,
"That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the
Spirit is spirit." This means that if man be a captive of physical
susceptibilities and be lacking the quickening of spiritual emotions, he
is merely an animal. But every soul who possesses spiritual
susceptibilities and has attained a goodly portion of the bestowals of the
Holy Spirit is alive with the divine life of the higher Kingdom. The soul
that is portionless and bereft is as dead. Therefore, He said, "Let the
dead bury their dead." Just as the physical body of man is in need of its
force of life, even so the human soul is in need of the divine animus and
vivification emanating from the Holy Spirit. Without this vivification and
sustenance, man would be an animal, nay, rather, dead.
Seventh, the necessity of education for all mankind is evident. Children
especially must be trained and taught. If the parent cannot afford to do
this owing to lack of means, the body politic must make necessary
provision for its accomplishment. Through the broadening spirit of
education illiteracy will disappear, and misunderstandings due to
ignorance will pass away.
Eighth, universal peace will be established among the nations of the world
by international agreement. The greatest catastrophe in the world of
humanity today is war. Europe is a storehouse of explosives awaiting a
spark. All the European nations are on edge, and a single flame will set
on fire the whole of that continent. Implements of war and death are
multiplied and increased to an inconceivable degree, and the burden of
military maintenance is taxing the various countries beyond the point of
endurance. Armies and navies devour the substance and possessions of the
people; the toiling poor, the innocent and helpless are forced by taxation
to provide munitions and armament for governments bent upon conquest of
territory and defense against powerful rival nations. There is no greater
or more woeful ordeal in the world of humanity today than impending war.
Therefore, international peace is a crucial necessity. An arbitral court
of justice shall be established by which international disputes are to be
settled. Through this means all possibility of discord and war between the
nations will be obviated.
Ninth, there must be an equality of rights between men and women. Women
shall receive an equal privilege of education. This will enable them to
qualify and progress in all degrees of occupation and accomplishment. For
the world of humanity possesses two wings: man and woman. If one wing
remains incapable and defective, it will restrict the power of the other,
and full flight will be impossible. Therefore, the completeness and
perfection of the human world are dependent upon the equal development of
these two wings.
Tenth, there shall be an equality of rights and prerogatives for all
mankind.
Eleventh, one language must be selected as an international medium of
speech and communication. Through this means misunderstandings will be
lessened, fellowship established and unity assured.
These are a few of the principles proclaimed by Baha'u'llah. He has
provided the remedy for the ailments which now afflict the human world,
solved the difficult problems of individual, social, national and
universal welfare and laid the foundation of divine reality upon which
material and spiritual civilization are to be founded throughout the
centuries before us.
Praise be to God! I find these two great American nations highly capable
and advanced in all that appertains to progress and civilization. These
governments are fair and equitable. The motives and purposes of these
people are lofty and inspiring. Therefore, it is my hope that these
revered nations may become prominent factors in the establishment of
international peace and the oneness of the world of humanity; that they
may lay the foundations of equality and spiritual brotherhood among
mankind; that they may manifest the highest virtues of the human world,
revere the divine lights of the Prophets of God and establish the reality
of unity so necessary today in the affairs of nations. I pray that the
nations of the East and West shall become one flock under the care and
guidance of the divine Shepherd. Verily, this is the bestowal of God and
the greatest honor of man. This is the glory of humanity. This is the good
pleasure of God. I ask God for this with a contrite heart.
O my Lord! Thou Who art ever-forgiving! Verily, this assembly hath turned
its face toward Thy Kingdom. Verily, they are all of Thy flock, and Thou
art the one Shepherd of all. O Thou real Shepherd! Educate and train Thy
sheep in Thy green and verdant pastures. Suffer these birds of Thine to
build their nests in Thy rose garden. Adorn Thine orchard with these fresh
plants and flowers. Refresh these human trees by Thy shower of beneficence
and favor. O God! Verily, we are all Thy servants--all Thine--and Thou art
the One Lord. We all adore Thee, and Thou art the beneficent Master. O
Lord! Render the eyes perceptive that they may witness the lights of Thy
Kingdom. Render the ears attentive that they may hear the heavenly
summons. Resuscitate the spirits that they may be exhilarated through the
breath of the Holy Spirit. O Lord! Verily, we are weak, but Thou art
almighty. We are poor, but Thou art rich. Have mercy upon us. Apportion
unto us a goodly share of Thy realities, and lead us into the arena of
Thine attainments. Thou art the Powerful. Thou art the Able. Thou art the
kind Lord.