Haifa, Israel,
June 16, 1954
Mr. James Heggie, Secretary,
National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Australia and New Zealand.
Dear Baha'i Brother:
The letters from your Assembly dated July 6, September 14, November 9 and
December 18, 1953, and January 7 (2), February 28, and March 22 and 31,
1954, with enclosures, also the material sent separately, have all been
received by the beloved Guardian, and he has instructed me to answer you
on his behalf.
Regarding the various matters you have raised, he does not know how the
galleys of the Tahitian pamphlet and letters of Louise Bosch happened to
be sent to you. He had nothing to do with it, and is perfectly satisfied
that they should remain in the hands of your Assembly.
He has been delighted over the marked progress made by your Assembly in
carrying out its own portion of the Ten-Year Crusade. The number of
members of the National Body who have gone forth as pioneers to virgin
territories which you have succeeded in opening during the first year of
the Plan, the purchase of the Temple site in Sydney--all attest the
vitality of the faith of the believers in the Antipodes. He is very proud
of their spirit and their achievements, and believes that they will go
very far in their service to the Faith on an international scale. The
initiative shown through the holding of a South Pacific School pleased him
immensely. In view of the work to be done, the number of languages into
which the literature is to be translated, the tremendous area throughout
which the Australian goals are scattered, schools and institutes of this
nature are really essential.
He is also very happy to note the increase in Baha'i membership, a sure
sign of the virility of the faith of the believers.
He feels sure that the visit of the dear Hand of the Cause, Mr. Furutan,
accompanied by Mr. Faizi, did a tremendous amount of good. Mr. Furutan has
since made the pilgrimage to Haifa, and spoke very highly to the Guardian
of the believers in that part of the world, whom he grew to love and
admire very much during his visit.
He was very happy to see that Mrs. Dunn was able to attend the New Zealand
Baha'i Summer School. For a woman of her age, this was surely a remarkable
achievement, and must have been a great inspiration to the New Zealand
friends, coming as she did so freshly from the last Intercontinental
Teaching Conference held in New Delhi.
Now that so many of the goals abroad have been settled, and active plans
have been laid to settle the remaining ones, he feels that your Assembly
should pay particular attention, during the coming year, to the work on
the home front. The multiplication of Local Assemblies, the incorporation
of Local Assemblies and the increase in centers throughout Australia and
New Zealand are all-important and pressing, and will require a great deal
of work. The sooner the friends "get on with it" the better!
In connection with the teaching work throughout the Pacific area, he fully
believes that in many cases the white society is difficult to interest in
anything but its own superficial activities. The Baha'is must identify
themselves on the one hand, as much as they reasonably can, with the life
of the white people, so as not to become ostracized, criticized and
eventually ousted from their hard-won pioneer posts. On the other hand,
they must bear in mind that the primary object of their living there is to
teach the native population the Faith. This they must do with tact and
discretion, in order not to forfeit their foot-hold in these islands which
are often so difficult of access.
Sound judgment, a great deal of patience and forbearance, faith and
nobility of conduct, must distinguish the pioneers, and be their helpers
in accomplishing the object of their journey to these far places.
He attaches great importance to teaching the aboriginal Australians, and
also in converting more Maoris to the Faith, and hopes that the Baha'is
will devote some attention to contacting both of these minority groups.
As he has already informed you, he approves of any surplus moneys in the
Temple fund, after having purchased the site, being diverted for the use
of the Pacific teaching work. He feels that your Assembly has shown
remarkably good judgment in handling this entire matter.
The most important thing of all in connection with the pioneer work, is to
ensure that the believers who, at such cost of sacrifice and effort, have
at last succeeded in gaining entry to these far-flung and difficult
territories, should remain there at all costs.
As regards the question of how to write some of the Oriental words, like
Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l-Baha in the translations which have Latin script,
he feels that at least in parenthesis a phonetical pronunciation should be
included after the name when the English transliteration is used. There is
no use giving people the Teachings, and not enabling them to pronounce
correctly the names that have the deepest association of all with our
Faith.
He urges your Body and, through you, all of the dear believers in
Australia and New Zealand, and your devoted pioneers serving so far
afield, to be of good heart, to persevere, and to rest assured that the
Beloved will watch over and protect your labours.
He will pray for all the members of your Assembly in the holy Shrines, and
for the success of your indefatigable labours.
With warm Baha'i greetings,
R. Rabbani.
[From the Guardian:]
Dear and valued co-workers:
The manifold evidences of the remarkable progress, achieved in almost
every field, by the Australian and New-Zealand Baha'i Communities since
the launching of the Ten-Year Plan, have truly rejoiced my heart, and
served to heighten my feelings of admiration for the sterling qualities
which the members of these Communities have increasingly displayed in
recent years.
There is no doubt whatever--and I truly feel proud to place it on
record--that the community of the followers of Baha'u'llah labouring for
His Cause in the Antipodes now occupies, by virtue of the quality of the
faith of its members, the soundness of their judgement, the clearness of
their vision, the scope of their accomplishments, and their exemplary
loyalty, courage and self-sacrifice, a foremost position among its sister
communities in all the continents of the globe.
Far from stagnating or declining in number or in influence it has in
recent years displayed a vitality which can well excite the admiration and
envy of them all, and has demonstrated, beyond the shadow of a doubt, a
fidelity to the principles of our Faith, whether a spiritual or
administrative, and a capacity for service which all may well emulate.
Though all the goals, in the virgin areas of the globe, assigned to the
elected national representatives of these two communities have not as yet
been attained, owing solely to circumstances beyond their control, yet the
spirit evinced by the pioneers belonging to these communities, who have so
gloriously initiated this major task, constituting the foremost objective
of the opening phase of this Ten-Year Crusade, has been such as to amply
compensate for the inability of their national elected representatives to
consummate, ere the close of the first year of the Ten-Year Plan, this
initial enterprise marking the inauguration of their Mission in foreign
fields. Particularly gratifying and indeed inspiring has been the response
of the members of your assembly to the Call for pioneers--a response that
has surpassed that of any other National Body throughout the Baha'i World.
The selection and subsequent purchase of the site of the first
Ma_sh_riqu'l-A_dh_kar in the Antipodes in the outskirts of a city--the
first to receive the light of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah in
Australasia, and destined to play a predominant role in the evolution of
the Administrative Order of His Faith in that vast area--is an achievement
which I heartily welcome and for which I feel deeply grateful. This
remarkable accomplishment will, in conjunction with the establishment a
decade ago of the National Haziratu'l-Quds in that same city, accelerate
the progress, and immensely reinforce the foundations, of the
administrative institutions inaugurated on the morrow of 'Abdu'l-Baha's
ascension, and which are destined to yield their fairest fruit in the
Golden Age of the Baha'i Dispensation.
The second phase of this spiritual Crusade upon which these two greatly
blessed, fast unfolding, firmly established, intensely alive communities
have now entered must witness the opening, at whatever cost, of the
remaining virgin territories allocated to their national elected
representatives. The preservation of the prizes already won in the newly
opened territories is, moreover, a task they cannot afford to neglect
under any circumstances. The multiplication of Baha'i isolated centres,
groups and local assemblies, in both Australia and New-Zealand--a process
that has been steadily and rapidly developing since the inauguration of
the Ten-Year Plan, is likewise of paramount importance in the years
immediately ahead. The development of these institutions, particularly in
New-Zealand, will no doubt hasten the emergence of an independent National
Spiritual Assembly in that territory, and will lend a tremendous impetus
to the onward march of the Faith in those regions.
The assistance which your Assembly must increasingly extend to its sister
assembly in the Indian sub-continent, in connection with the translation
and publication of Baha'i Literature in the languages allocated under the
Ten-Year Plan, is yet another task which, in the coming months, must be
boldly tackled and consistently carried on. The incorporation of local
assemblies moreover, is a matter of great urgency and should in no wise be
postponed or neglected. The consolidation work to be undertaken, according
to the provisions of this same Plan, is, likewise, urgent and of the
utmost importance, and will undoubtedly serve to enhance the prestige of
your assembly and enrich the record of your far-reaching accomplishments.
The purchase of a building in Auckland destined to serve as the National
Haziratu'l-Quds of the Baha'is of New-Zealand, is yet another objective on
which attention should be immediately focused--in anticipation of the
erection of yet another pillar of the future House of Justice in that
remote part of the world.
Whilst these objectives are being steadily pursued by your assembly, every
effort will be exerted in the Holy Land, as a tribute to the superb spirit
animating the Australian and New Zealand believers and to their incessant
and meritorious labours in the service of the Cause they have championed,
to hasten the transfer of a part of the Baha'i international endowments to
the name of the newly constituted Israel Branch of your Assembly--an act
that will at once bestow a great spiritual and material benefit on your
Assembly and reinforce the ties binding it to the World Centre of the
Faith in the Holy Land.
May the members of these valiant communities, whose interests you so
conscientiously serve and whom you so ably represent, continue to prosper
under your wise and loving leadership, scale loftier heights in their
collective enterprise, and win a still greater measure of fame in the
service of a Cause to which they have so nobly dedicated their resources,
and which they have served, in the past thirty years, with so rare a
spirit of consecration and self-sacrifice.
That they may bring to full and early fruition the manifold tasks they
have undertaken is the constant prayer of one who has never ceased to love
and admire them for their past and present achievements, and for whose
future accomplishments he cherishes the brightest hopes.
Shoghi.