What does Baha'u'llah hold to be the goal of the evolution of human
consciousness? In the perspective of eternity, its purpose is that God
should see, ever more clearly, the reflection of His perfections in the
mirror of His creation, and that, in the words of Baha'u'llah:
...every man may testify, in himself, by himself, in the station of the
Manifestation of his Lord, that verily there is no God save Him, and that
every man may thereby win his way to the summit of realities, until none
shall contemplate anything whatsoever but that he shall see God
therein.(55)
Within the context of the history of civilization, the objective of the
succession of divine Manifestations has been to prepare human
consciousness for the race's unification as a single species, indeed as a
single organism capable of taking up the responsibility for its collective
future: "He Who is your Lord, the All-Merciful," Baha'u'llah says,
"cherisheth in His heart the desire of beholding the entire human race as
one soul and one body."(56) Not until humanity has accepted its organic
oneness can it meet even its immediate challenges, let alone those that
lie ahead: "The well-being of mankind," Baha'u'llah insists, "its peace
and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly
established."(57) Only a unified global society can provide its children
with the sense of inner assurance implied in one of Baha'u'llah's prayers
to God: "Whatever duty Thou hast prescribed unto Thy servants of extolling
to the utmost Thy majesty and glory is but a token of Thy grace unto them,
that they may be enabled to ascend unto the station conferred upon their
own inmost being, the station of the knowledge of their own selves."(58)
Paradoxically, it is only by achieving true unity that humanity can fully
cultivate its diversity and individuality. This is the goal which the
missions of all of the Manifestations of God known to history have served,
the Day of "one fold and one shepherd."(59) Its attainment, Baha'u'llah
says, is the stage of civilization upon which the human race is now
entering.
One of the most suggestive analogies to be found in the writings not only
of Baha'u'llah, but of the Bab before Him, is the comparison between the
evolution of the human race and the life of the individual human being.
Humanity has moved through stages in its collective development which are
reminiscent of the periods of infancy, childhood, and adolescence in the
maturation of its individual members. We are now experiencing the
beginnings of our collective maturity, endowed with new capacities and
opportunities of which we as yet have only the dimmest awareness.(60)
Against this background, it is not difficult to understand the primacy
given in Baha'u'llah's teachings to the principle of unity. The oneness of
humanity is the leitmotif of the age now opening, the standard against
which must be tested all proposals for the betterment of humanity. There
is, Baha'u'llah insists, but one human race; inherited notions that a
particular racial or ethnic group is in some way superior to the rest of
humanity are without foundation. Similarly, since all of the Messengers of
God have served as agents of the one Divine Will, their revelations are
the collective legacy of the entire human race; each person on earth is a
legitimate heir of the whole of that spiritual tradition. Persistence in
prejudices of any kind is both damaging to the interests of society and a
violation of the Will of God for our age:
O contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces towards
unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you. Gather ye
together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out whatever is the
source of contention amongst you.... There can be no doubt whatever that
the peoples of the world, of whatever race or religion, derive their
inspiration from one heavenly Source, and are the subjects of one God. The
difference between the ordinances under which they abide should be
attributed to the varying requirements and exigencies of the age in which
they were revealed. All of them, except a few which are the outcome of
human perversity, were ordained of God, and are a reflection of His Will
and Purpose. Arise and, armed with the power of faith, shatter to pieces
the gods of your vain imaginings, the sowers of dissension amongst
you....(61)
The theme of unity runs throughout Baha'u'llah's writings: "The tabernacle
of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers."(62)
"Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness
and fellowship."(63) "Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one
branch."(64)
The process of humanity's coming-of-age has occurred within the evolution
of social organization. Beginning from the family unit and its various
extensions, the human race has developed, with varying degrees of success,
societies based on the clan, the tribe, the city-state, and most recently
the nation. This progressively broader and more complex social milieu
provides human potential with both stimulation and scope for development,
and this development, in turn, has induced ever-new modifications of the
social fabric. Humanity's coming-of-age, therefore, must entail a total
transformation of the social order. The new society must be one capable of
embracing the entire diversity of the race and of benefiting from the full
range of talents and insights which many thousands of years of cultural
experience have refined:
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.... Soon
will the present-day order be rolled up, and a new one spread out in its
stead. Verily, thy Lord speaketh the truth, and is the Knower of things
unseen.(65)
The chief instrument for the transformation of society and the achievement
of world unity, Baha'u'llah asserts, is the establishment of justice in
the affairs of humankind. The subject has a central place in His
teachings:
The light of men is Justice. Quench it not with the contrary winds of
oppression and tyranny. The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity
among men. The ocean of divine wisdom surgeth within this exalted word,
while the books of the world cannot contain its inner significance....(66)
In His later writings Baha'u'llah made explicit the implications of this
principle for the age of humanity's maturity. "Women and men have been and
will always be equal in the sight of God,"(67) He asserts, and the
advancement of civilization requires that society so organize its affairs
as to give full expression to this fact. The earth's resources are the
property of all humanity, not of any one people. Different contributions
to the common economic welfare deserve and should receive different
measures of reward and recognition, but the extremes of wealth and poverty
which afflict most nations on earth, regardless of the socio-economic
philosophies they profess, must be abolished.