Thougts Expounded

This past weekend I attended a conference at which almost every speaker shared at least one of the quotes from the writings of Abdu'l-Baha. While no one quoted the passage posted below, the words in the following passage express the thoughts expounded upon by the speakers at the Conference that I recently attended:



"There is not one soul whose conscience does not testify that in this day there is no more important matter in the world than that of Universal Peace. Every just one bears witness to this and adores that esteemed Assembly 1 because its aim is that this darkness may be turned into light, this bloodthirstiness into kindness, this torment into bliss, this hardship into ease and this enmity and hatred into fellowship and love. Therefore the effort of those esteemed souls is worthy of praise and commendation.
But the wise souls who are aware of the essential relationships emanating from the realities of things consider that one single matter cannot, by itself, influence the human reality as it ought and should, for until the minds of men become united, no important matter can be accomplished. At present Universal Peace is a matter of great importance, but unity of conscience is essential, so that the foundation of this matter may become secure, its establishment firm and its edifice strong. "


The above quote is from the book FOUNDATIONS OF WORLD UNITY

Seasonal Thoughts

During the Holiday Season, events and decorations seem to cater to the interests of children. Children delight in the sights, sounds and smells of the Hoiday Season.

In the spirit of this Hoiday Season, I would like to share a quote in which Abdu'l-Baha reveals his love for children. Here is that quote:


While the children are yet in their infancyfeed them from the breast of heavenly grace,
foster them in the cradle of all excellence,
rear them in the embrace of bounty.
Give them the advantage of everyuseful kind of knowledge.
Let them sharein every new and rare and wondrous craft and art.
Bring them up to work and strive,and accustom them to hardship.
Teach them to dedicate their lives to matters of great import,
and inspire them to undertake studies that will benefit mankind.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 129

Thoughts Re-stated

Gideon Rachman has written a article called "And Now For World Government." Abdu'l-Baha pushed for some form of world government the moment that he got off of the boat in 1912. At that time, reporters asked him why he had traveled from Persia to the United States. Abdu'l-Baha said that he had come to the U.S. to usher in a "universal peace."

On December 5, 1912, the day that he left the United States, Abdul-Baha had this to say:


"These are my final words of exhortation. I have repeatedly summoned you to the cause of the unity of the world of humanity, announcing that all mankind are the servants of the same God, that God is the creator of all; He is the Provider and Life-giver; all are equally beloved by Him and are His servants upon whom His mercy and compassion descend. Therefore, you must manifest the greatest kindness and love toward the nations of the world, setting aside fanaticism, abandoning religious, national and racial prejudice.
The earth is one native land, one home; and all mankind are the children of one Father. God has created them, and they are the recipients of His compassion. Therefore, if anyone offends another, he offends God. It is the wish of our heavenly Father that every heart should rejoice and be filled with happiness, that we should live together in felicity and joy. The obstacle to human happiness is racial or religious prejudice, the competitive struggle for existence and inhumanity toward each other.
Your eyes have been illumined, your ears are attentive, your hearts knowing. You must be free from prejudice and fanaticism, beholding no differences between the races and religions. You must look to God, for He is the real Shepherd, and all humanity are His sheep. He loves them and loves them equally. As this is true, should the sheep quarrel among themselves? They should manifest gratitude and thankfulness to God, and the best way to thank God is to love one another.
Beware lest ye offend any heart, lest ye speak against anyone in his absence, lest ye estrange yourselves from the servants of God. You must consider all His servants as your own family and relations. Direct your whole effort toward the happiness of those who are despondent, bestow food upon the hungry, clothe the needy, and glorify the humble. Be a helper to every helpless one, and manifest kindness to your fellow creatures in order that ye may attain the good pleasure of God. This is conducive to the illumination of the world of humanity and eternal felicity for yourselves. I seek from God everlasting glory in your behalf; therefore, this is my prayer and exhortation. "

Abdu'l-Baha said much more on the day of his departure. The full text can be found in the book THE PROMULGATION FOR UNIVERSAL PEACE.

Thoughts Carried Across the Atlantic

Abdu'l-Baha heard his father speak on may topics. Abdu'l-Baha shared with others many of his father's thoughts. I used a few of those thoughts in a factoid that I wroter recently. You can find that factoid here:

How can I discover my own personal identity through God?

Thougts on Faith

Are any of the readers of this blog reading the book "The End of Faith" by Sam Harris? A Baha'i writer is reading that book and has included one quote from that book in a recent email. Here is the quote:

"....Faith is rather like a rhinoceros in fact: it won't do much in the way of real work for you , and yet at close quarters it will make spectacular claims upon your attention."

Another Baha'i writer has shared his response to that quote. He has compared the running from faith to the running from a rhinocerous. A human can not out run a rhinocerous. That huge creature will eventually catch up with any human who has chosen to turn its back on that large and tusk-bearing mammal.

Linking to More Thoughts

I just wrote a news article for our local paper. In that article I mentioned a concern of our local School Board. That group now struggles with the issue of bullying.

Some of the school children in Iran have come under attack. Because this problem relates to the life of Abdu'l-Baha, the main character in my anthology story, I am going to post a link on my blog. I hope that some of the readers of this blog will read what is on this link.

http://iran.bahai.us/iranian-bahai-school-children

Thougts Posted Elsewhere

During November I became a vip writer on Factoidz.com. Today, I wrote an answer to the following question: Can being religious extend your life? Because I was limited to a 300 word answer, I could not include in my factoid a relevant quote, a quote made by Abdu'l-Baha.

Here is that quote:

"My only joy in this swiftly passing world was to tread the stony path o God and to endure hard tests and all material grief. For otherwise, this earthly life would prove barren and vain, and better would be death. The tree of being would produce no fruit; the sown field of existene would yield no harvest. Thus it is my hope that once again some circumstance will make my cup of anguish to brim over,and that beautous love, that slayer of souls will dazzle the beholders once again. Then will this heart be blissful and this soul be blessed."

The above quote is taken from "Selections of the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha.