"He has noted with care what you had written him regarding the question of
admittance of applicants into the Cause. This is certainly a matter which
calls for the utmost tact, wisdom and consideration on the part of Baha'i
Assemblies. While, as he himself has repeatedly stressed, a uniform
procedure should be adopted and followed whereby every applicant should be
required to express his whole-hearted and unconditional acceptance of the
essential verities of the Cause, great care should also be taken not to
insist on matters of a secondary importance which the newcomer cannot, for
obvious reasons, fully grasp and apprehend at the beginning. Once the
applicant has been admitted in the Community with a clear understanding of
the duties and responsibilities, and essential implications which such
membership entails, there would be no difficulty for him in gradually
adjusting his whole ideas according to the requirements set forth in the
Teachings. The process of becoming a Baha'i is necessarily slow and
gradual. The essential is not that the beginner should have a full and
detailed knowledge of the Cause, a thing which is obviously impossible in
the vast majority of cases, but that he should, by an act of his own will,
be willing to uphold and follow the truth and guidance set forth in the
Teachings, and thus open his heart and mind to the reality of the
Manifestation."