I have attended more meetings in New York than in all the other cities
combined. Day and night, individually and collectively you have listened
to the teachings and exhortations of Baha'u'llah. I have proclaimed unto
you the glad tidings of the Kingdom of God and explained the wishes of the
Blessed Perfection. I have set forth that which is conducive to human
progress and shown you the humility of servitude. The teachings of
Baha'u'llah have been clearly interpreted. The time has now come when I
must leave you; therefore, this will be our farewell meeting.
I am greatly pleased with you all and rejoice that you have shown me the
utmost kindness and affection. It is my desire that Baha'u'llah shall be
pleased with you, that you may follow His precepts and become worthy of
His confirmations. The requirements are that your minds must be illumined,
your souls must be rejoiced with the glad tidings of God, you must become
imbued with spiritual moralities, your daily life must evidence faith and
assurance, your hearts must be sanctified and pure, reflecting a high
degree of love and attraction toward the Kingdom of Abha. You must become
the lamps of Baha'u'llah so that you may shine with eternal light and be
the proofs and evidences of His truth. Then will such signs of purity and
chastity be witnessed in your deeds and actions that men will behold the
heavenly radiance of your lives and say, "Verily, ye are the proofs of
Baha'u'llah. Verily, Baha'u'llah is the True One, for He has trained such
souls as these, each one of which is a proof in himself." They will say to
others, "Come and witness the conduct of these souls; come and listen to
their words, behold the illumination of their hearts, see the evidences of
the love of God in them, consider their praiseworthy morals, and discover
the foundations of the oneness of humanity firmly implanted within them.
What greater proof can there be than these people that the message of
Baha'u'llah is truth and reality?" It is my hope that each one of you
shall be a herald of God, proclaiming the evidences of His appearance, in
words, deeds and thoughts. Let your actions and utterances be a witness
that you are of the Kingdom of Baha'u'llah. These are the duties enjoined
upon you by Baha'u'llah.
Baha'u'llah endured the greatest hardships. He found neither rest by night
nor peace by day. He was constantly under the stress of great calamity--now
in prison, now in chains, now threatened by the sword--until finally He
broke the cage of captivity, left this mortal world and ascended to the
heaven of God. He endured all these tribulations for our sakes and
suffered these deprivations that we might attain the bestowals of divine
bounty. Therefore, we must be faithful to Him and turn away from our own
selfish desires and fancies in order that we may accomplish that which is
required of us by our Lord.
It is my wish that you shall arise to live according to these teachings
and exhortations; that all of us may be divinely strengthened, enter the
paradise of the spiritual Kingdom, diffuse the lights of the Sun of Truth,
cause the waves of this Most Great Ocean to reach all human souls so that
this world of earth may be transformed into the world of heaven and this
devastated ground be changed into the paradise of Abha.
4 December 1912
Talk to Theosophical Society
2228 Broadway, New York