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Spread Peace

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Whoso Rejects You, Him Will God Reject

The Bab addressed Mulla Husayn these words: 

"Grieve not that you have not been chosen to accompany Me on My pilgrimage to Hijaz. I shall, instead, direct your steps to that city which enshrines a Mystery of such transcendent holiness as neither Hijaz nor Shiraz can hope to rival. My hope is that you may, by the aid of God, be enabled to remove the veils from the eyes of the wayward and to cleanse the minds of the malevolent. Visit, on your way, Isfahan, Kashan, Tihran, and Khurasan. Proceed thence to Iraq, and there await the summons of your Lord, who will keep watch over you and will direct you to whatsoever is His will and desire. As to Myself, I shall, accompanied by Quddus and My Ethiopian servant, proceed on My pilgrimage to Hijaz. I shall join the company of the pilgrims of Fars, who will shortly be sailing for that land. I shall visit Mecca and Medina, and there fulfil the mission with which God has entrusted Me. God willing, I shall return hither by the way of Kufih, in which place I hope to meet you. If it be decreed otherwise, I shall ask you to join Me in Shiraz. The hosts of the invisible Kingdom, be assured, will sustain and reinforce your efforts. The essence of power is now dwelling in you, and the company of His chosen angels revolves around you. His almighty arms will surround you, and His unfailing Spirit will ever continue to guide your steps. He that loves you, loves God; and whoever opposes you, has opposed God. Whoso befriends you, him will God befriend; and whoso rejects you, him will God reject."
(Dawn Breakers)

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

The List of Nineteen Letters of Living


First                         Mullá Husayn-i-Bushrú’í
Second                    Muhammad Hasan (His Brother)
Third                       Muhammad-Báqir (His Nephew)
Fourth                    Mullá ‘Alíy-i-Bastamí
Fifth                       Mullá Khudá-Bakhsh-i-Quchání (later named Mullá ’Ali)
Sixth                     Mullá Hasan-i-Bajistání
Seventh                  Siyyid Husayn-i-Yazdí
Eighth                    Mírzá Muhammad Rawdih-Khán-i-Yazdí
Ninth                    Sa’íd-i-Hindí
Tenth                   Mullá Mahmúd-i-Khú’í
Eleventh                Mullá Jalíl-i-Urúmí
Twelfth                 Mullá Ahmad-i-Ibdal-i-Marághi’í
Thirteenth             Mullá Báqir-i-Tabrízí
Fourteenth            Mullá Yusif-i-Ardibílí
Fifteenth              Mírzá Hádí (Son of Mullá ‘Abdu’l-Vahháb-i-Qazvíní)
Sixteenth      Mírzá Muhammad-i ‘Alíy-i-Qazvíní
Seventeenth         Táhirih
Eighteenth      Quddús
Nineteenth            The Báb Himself

Monday, December 15, 2014

Letters of the Living


The 18 disciples who first believed in Sayyid Ali Muhammad the Primal Point, the Point are called Letters of the Living. They were created before all things from the Point. They became living because the Point shone forth upon them. The Point is independent of all things, Letters of the Living including. The Point is not a Letter of the Living. These 18 disciples were minor manifestations subject to the major manifestation, the Primal Point.
These 18 disciples were “the return of Muhammad, Ali, Fatima, the Eleven Imams and the Four Original Gates (BÂB).”

What is meant by the “return” is the appearance of another person, born of other parents, but inspired by God with the same spirit and power. This “coming again” of these persons was fulfilled in the appearance of the Letters of the Living.

Grants of Titles and names are the prerogatives of the Point, the manifestation of the age, the Primal Point in the manifestation of the Bayan, to the exclusion of all others, Letters of the Living including.

Of the 19 Letters of the Living the First to believe was Mulla Muhammad Hussein who was the return of Muhammad.

The last believer was Mulla Muhammad Ali entitled Quddus. Which Imam’s return he was is not clear, presumably he was the return of the Imam Hussein.
The 18 disciples received their titles from the Primal Point in 1844 as they embraced the faith.

Saturday, December 13, 2014

World of Thought

The reality of man is his thought, not his material body. The thought force and the animal force are partners. 
Although man is part of the animal creation, he possesses a power of thought superior to all other created beings.
If a man's thought is constantly aspiring towards heavenly subjects then does he become saintly; if on the other hand his thought does not soar, but is directed downwards to centre itself upon the things of this world, he grows more and more material until he arrives at a state little better than that of a mere animal.

Thoughts may be divided into two classes:
      
(1st) Thought that belongs to the world of thought alone.
     
(2nd) Thought that expresses itself in action.

Some men and women glory in their exalted thoughts, but if these thoughts never reach the plane of action they remain useless: 
the power of thought is dependent on its manifestation in deeds. 
A philosopher's thought may, however, in the world of progress and evolution, translate itself into the actions of other people, even when they themselves are unable or unwilling to show forth their grand ideals in their own lives. 
To this class the majority of philosophers belong, their teachings being high above their actions. 

This is the difference between philosophers who are Spiritual Teachers, and those who are mere philosophers: 
the Spiritual Teacher is the first to follow His own teaching; He brings down into the world of action His spiritual conceptions and ideals. His Divine thoughts are made manifest to the world. His thought is Himself, from which He is inseparable. 
When we find a philosopher emphasizing the importance and grandeur of justice, and then encouraging a rapacious monarch in his oppression and tyranny, we quickly realize that he belongs to the first class: for he thinks heavenly thoughts and does not practise the corresponding heavenly virtues.
This state is impossible with Spiritual Philosophers, for they ever express their high and noble thoughts in action. (Excerpt from "Paris Talks")

Monday, December 8, 2014

Doctrines of Orthodox Baha'i Faith

The Orthodox Bahá’í Faith has its early roots in that of Islam.  A young Muhammadan Man announced in Persia on May 23rd, 1844, that He was the forerunner of the Promised One of all the previous religions.  It created uproar in that area of the world.  No less than 20,000 of His followers, known as Bábi’s, were martyred.  In 1850, the Báb was publicly executed.
One of the Báb’s followers became known as Bahá’u’lláh.  That title roughly translates as “the Glory of God”.  Bahá’u’lláh announced that He was the One foretold by the Báb.  He began his ministry in 1853, and publicly announced it in 1863.  Bahá’u’lláh was banished successively from Persia to Baghdad to Constantinople, to Adrianople, and finally to the prison city of Akka located across the bay from Haifa, Israel.  He later pitched His tent upon Mount Carmel.  He passed away in 1892.
`Abdu’l-Bahá, another title meaning “Servant of Bahá’u’lláh”, was the appointed successor and Center of the Covenant and Interpreter of the Word.  Released from imprisonment, He traveled to Europe and America in 1911 – 1912.  He passed away in 1921.
Shoghi Effendi, the eldest grandson of `Abdu’l-Bahá, was appointed by Him to be Guardian of the Faith, and under his leadership the Faith expanded to over 250 different countries.  Shoghi Effendi passed away in London in 1957.
Shoghi Effendi, in the only Proclamation he ever issued, appointed Charles Mason Remey as the Head of the International Bahá’í Council, the embryonic Universal House of Justice.  Mason Remey remained silent until 1960, as he tried to preserve unity among the believers.  In 1960 he publicly announced that Shoghi Effendi had appointed him second Guardian of the Faith.  The appointment being in the known fact that only a Guardian can be the Head or President of the Universal House of Justice, whether fully formed or in embryonic condition.  With the passing of Shoghi Effendi the embryonic House of Justice, provisionally designated as the International Bahá’í Council, which had never been activated, had immediately become the active organ, and Mason as its president, the Guardian.
Mason himself both appointed in writing, and by appointing to the second International Bahá’í Council as President, Joel Bray Marangella third Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith.  When Mason activated the Council in 1965, Joel, as its President and Head, became the Guardian.
The Orthodox Bahá’í Faith teaches the unity of God and His Prophets, the unity of the human race, the independent investigation of the truth, elimination of all forms of prejudice, the fundamental agreement of science and religion, equal opportunities, rights, and privileges for both sexes, abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth, establishes the need for an international script and language, universal education, a universal system of currency, weights, and measures, and promotes the establishment of world peace. Read full article of "I'an RoeBuck." 

Thursday, December 4, 2014

‘Abdu’l-Baha’s Affection and Love for Mason Remey:


. . ."Praise be unto God, that the model of the Mashrekol-Askar [current transliteration: Mashriqu'l-Adhkár] made by Mr. [Louis J.] Bourgeois was approved by his honor, Mr. Remey, and selected by the Convention. His honor, Mr. Remey is, verily, of perfect sincerity. He is like unto transparent water, filtered, lucid and without any impurity. He worked earnestly for several years, but he did not have any personal motive. He has not attachment to anything except to the Cause of God. This is the spirit of the firm and this is the characteristic of the sincere."
(Star of the West, Volume 11, No. 9, 20 August 1920 p. 139):
Mason Remey’s attachment to the Cause was well known at the time.  He travelled extensively to promote the Baha’i Faith during the ministry of ‘Abdu’l-Baha.  Shoghi Effendi in “God Passes By” (1950 edition p261) recorded that Mason Remey and his Baha’i companion, Howard Struven, were the first Baha’is to circle the globe teaching the Faith. Mason Remey visited ‘Abdu’l-Baha in the Holy Land several times and received numerous Tablets from The Master. “Star of the West”, a Baha’i periodical, published many of these letters during the years 1913-1922.   ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s high regard for Remey is evident in these letters.  Samples of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s greetings and words to him illustrate this affection.
"O thou illumined youth and my spiritual beloved!” (SOTW, April, 1913)
"O my dear son!  Numerous letters have been received from you and their contents have all been conducive to happiness. Praise be to God, thou art confirmed in service to the Kingdom, art promulgating divine teachings, art raising the call of the oneness of mankind, art detaching the souls from ignorant racial prejudices, art summoning them to the investigation of truth, art showing forth unto them the light of guidance and art offering them the chalice of the wine of the love of God. This blessed purpose of thine is the magnet of the confirmations of the Abha Kingdom."   (July 1919 – translation by Shoghi Effendi)
"O thou enlightened beloved son!"  (November 1920)
"O thou herald of the Covenant! Thy letters have been received and an answer has been written. Verily thou art firm in the Covenant, art self-sacrificing, art the son of the Kingdom and dost deserve the confirmations of His Holiness Baha’u’llah." (December 1920 – translation by Shoghi Effendi)

Monday, December 1, 2014

Sectarianism and Schism



The world's extant religions have without exception fallen prey to sectarianism and schism that have preoccupied and divided their followers to such an extent that the true spirit of the Teachings of the Authors of their respective Revelations has been so obscured that the spiritual effect which these Teachings have had on the hearts of men has been progressively weakened. Sectarianism and schism have stemmed from differences over interpretation of the Holy Scriptures and the introduction into the original Teachings of man-made dogmas and rituals. 
Had the Founders of the past great religions made specific provisions concerning the matter of succession; that is, had they formally designated a successor or established a system whereby a successor or series of successors would have been endowed with unequivocal authority to interpret Holy Writ, there would have been no basis for the divisive interpretations that have sundered these Faiths, even in early Christendom, the institution of the Papacy and hierarchy of the Church had as the sole basis for its authority their interpretation of the meaning of a verbal statement that Christ had made to His Apostle, Peter. 
While this authority remained unchallenged for centuries during which time the Church remained united, it was ultimately challenged by the Protestant movement with the result that today Christianity finds itself divided into hundreds of sects.

Friday, November 28, 2014

The Time Hath Come

O ye peoples of the Kingdom! How many a soul expended all its span of life in worship, endured the mortification of the flesh, longed to gain an
entry into the Kingdom, and yet failed, while ye, with neither toil nor pain nor self-denial, have won the prize and entered in.

It is even as in the time of the Messiah, when the Pharisees and the pious were left without a portion, while Peter, John and Andrew, given neither
to pious worship nor ascetic practice, won the day. Wherefore, thank ye God for setting upon your heads the crown of glory everlasting, for
granting unto you this immeasurable grace.

The time hath come when, as a thank-offering for this bestowal, ye should grow in faith and constancy as day followeth day, and should draw ever
nearer to the Lord, your God, becoming magnetized to such a degree, and so aflame, that your holy melodies in praise of the Beloved will reach upward
to the Company on high; and that each one of you, even as a nightingale in this rose garden of God, will glorify the Lord of Hosts, and become the
teacher of all who dwell on earth.

Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá

Tuesday, November 11, 2014

Heartiest Greetings to the Baha'i World

Grand Celebration of the Birth of Baha’u’llah

Birth Date   : 12th November 1817 AD (2nd Moharram 1233 AH)
Name         : Mirza Husain Ali Nuri
Father        : Mirza Abbas Nuri (Mirza Buzurg)
Mother       : Khadijih Khanum

“All of the Manifestations have prophesied the coming of the "Day of God," a Day when mankind would be united in one Fold with one Shepherd under the Fatherhood of the one God, a Day in which God's Kingdom would be established on earth as it is in Heaven.

The Bahá'í Faith proclaims that God has fulfilled His ancient promise and that this great Day dawned with the coming of Bahá'u'lláh, the Promised one of all ages.
Bahá'ís recognize Bahá'u'lláh as the mouthpiece of the Laws of God for this Day and the Revealer of Precepts which they believe will recreate and unite mankind spiritually and establish God's long-promised Kingdom on earth – a world civilization, representing the culminating stage and most glorious age of mankind's ordered life on this planet”. (A summary of the aims, teachings and history of the Baha’i Faith by Joel Bray Marangella)
Orthodox Baha’i Community of India congratulates to all the Bahai’s of the world on this very joyous occasion and announces to celebrate the birth of the Baha’u’llah on 12 November 2014 at Tungareshwar.

We extend our heartiest greetings to the living guardian of Baha’i Faith NOSRAT’U’LLAH BAHREMAND.

Friday, October 10, 2014

Obey “The Summons of the Lord of Hosts”


From the Desk of the Living Guardian:
It was brought to my attention that the illegitimate organization which is headquartered in Haifa and which undeservedly calls itself “the Universal House of Justice”, recently has organized a Web-page and claims that it is the “Official website of the Bahá’í Faith”! 
They should have honestly clarified that they meant a version of the Baha’i Faith modified and manipulated by Ruhiyyih Khanum and those former Hands of the Cause who followed her; a faith which repudiates the “Center of the Cause” and does not adhere to the sacred provisions of the Will and Testament of Abdu’l-Baha, a faith that is based on imitation, herd instinct and mind control, and by scare and hate-mongering rhetoric; a version of faith which is compatible with the ill wishes of “The Center of Sedition, the Prime Mover of mischief, Mirza Muhammad Alí,”, by “interpolating and falsifying the words and verses of the Sacred Text,” and consequently they “inflicted a grievous loss upon the true Faith of God,” by ignoring writings of the first Guardian of the Cause of God, especially his Proclamation of 9 January 1951 the only Proclamation during his own life; and opposing the descendant Guardians of the Cause of God. <>

Saturday, October 4, 2014

Mason Remey from Those Who Were There

Accepting Mason Remey's Proclamation, long-time Baha'is Frank and Carole Schlatter, James and Marilyn Meyer, and Stephen Rhodes talk about their acceptance of Mason Remey as the second Guardian, and how they knew him in 1960 and can attest from their own knowledge that he was neither senile or self-centered as the Hands had accused him.

“Religion should unite all hearts and cause wars and disputes to vanish from the face of the earth; it should give birth to spirituality, and bring light and life to every soul. If religion becomes a cause of dislike, hatred and division, it would be better to be without it... Any religion which is not a cause of love and unity is no religion.” 
― Abdu'l-Bahá

O' Son


Sunday, August 3, 2014

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF LOYALTY TO THE COVENANT OF BAHÁ'U'LLÁH?



(Extract form the article of Joel Bray Marangella, the Third Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith)


The distinguishing feature of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh is the binding Covenant He made with His followers to turn to 'Abdu'l-Bahá, His eldest son, after His Ascension as his appointed Successor, the sole Interpreter of His Word, the Expounder of His Book, and the Center of His Covenant; that is: the sole Center to whom all Bahá'ís should turn for spiritual guidance and interpretation of His Holy Writ. This Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh was made in a written Will and Testament which was opened on the ninth day following His Ascension in the presence of nine witnesses and read to His followers assembled in His Holy Tomb. Bahá'u'lláh has described this firm Testament as "The Book of My Covenant" (Kitáb-i-'Ahd) and "His Most Great Tablet". He has further extolled this mighty Covenant as the "Conclusive Testimony", the "Universal Balance", the "Magnet of God's grace", the "Upraised Standard", the "Irrefutable Testament", the "almighty Covenant, the like of which the sacred Dispensations of the past have never witnessed", and "one of the distinctive features of this most mighty cycle”.
It will suffice for our purpose to quote the following excerpt from Bahá'u'lláh's Testament as evidence of the uniqueness and strength of His Covenant with His followers:
"It is incumbent upon the Aghsan (His sons), the Afnán (kindred of the Báb) and My kindred to turn, one and all, their faces toward the Most Mighty Branch. Consider that which We have revealed in Our Most Holy Book (Kitáb-i-Aqdas): 'When the ocean of My presence hath ebbed and the Book of My Revelation is ended, turn your faces toward Him Whom God hath purposed, Who hath branched from this Ancient Root.' The object of this sacred verse is none other except the Most Mighty Branch ('Abdu'l-Bahá). Thus have we graciously revealed unto you our potent Will, and I am verily the Gracious, the All-Powerful".
Further corroboration of Bahá'u'lláh's appointment of 'Abdu'l-Bahá as His successor is contained in His Most Holy Book wherein He proclaims:
"When the Mystic Dove will have winged its flight from its Sanctuary of Praise and sought its far-off goal, its hidden habitation, refer whatsoever ye understand not in the Book, to Him ('Abdu'l-Bahá) Who hath branched from this mighty Stock."
In an address given by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in New York City during His visit to America in 1912 His statements concerning His appointment as the Center of His Father's Covenant included the following:
"As to the most great characteristic of the revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, a specific teaching not given by any of the prophets of the past, it is the ordination and appointment of the Center of the Covenant. By this appointment and provision He has safeguarded and protected the religion of God against differences and schisms, making it impossible for any one to create a new sect or faction of belief. To insure unity and agreement He has entered into a Covenant with all the people of the world including the interpreter and explainer of His teachings so that no one may interpret or explain the religion of God according to his own view or opinion and thus create a sect founded upon his individual understanding of the divine words."
In spite of the firmness and clarity of Bahá'u'lláh's testamentary instructions concerning the appointment and authority of 'Abdu'l-Bahá (accepted by the Heterodox Bahá'ís, too), following the Ascension of Bahá'u'lláh these instructions were flagrantly violated as 'Abdu'l-Bahá had to contend with betrayal, treachery and infidelity within the ranks of most of those who had been the closest to Bahá'u'lláh.
As time went on, however, the faithful rallied to the support of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, and it became increasingly clear that only through the providential provisions of Bahá'u'lláh's Covenant appointing a Center to whom all Bahá'ís could turn following His Ascension and vesting in Him sole authority for interpretation of His Holy Writ had Bahá'u'lláh protected and safeguarded His teachings from corruption – a protection that could only continue to be vouchsafed to it down through the ages to come of His Dispensation if the same Center provided in His unique Covenant were perpetuated for as long as this Dispensation endured. For as 'Abdu'l-Bahá stated:
"Were it not for the protecting power of the Covenant to guard the impregnable fort of the Cause of God, there would arise among the Bahá'ís, in one day, a thousand different sects as was the case in former ages..."
The uninterrupted continuity of a Center to whom all Bahá'ís were enjoined to turn following His passing was provided by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in a Will and Testament written in His own hand. This Document did far more than appoint an immediate successor to serve as the Center of the Cause. 'Abdu'l-Bahá established an Institution – the Institution of the guardianship of the Cause of God in which a "Center of the Cause" and an unchallengeable and continuing source of interpretative authority would be preserved down through the centuries to come of the Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh. His Will and Testament called for the Institution of the guardianship to be occupied by a continuous and unbroken succession of Guardians each of whom would be chosen and appointed by the predecessor-Guardian "in his own life-time" (i.e. not designated by testamentary document). As the first occupant of this supreme Office 'Abdu'l-Bahá appointed His eldest grandson (i.e. a "twig" and not a "Branch" of His Family Tree). More than this 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His Will and Testament delineated the other institutions of the Bahá'í Administrative Order and this momentous Document constituted the Charter of the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. The other administrative institutions incorporated in this Charter included the International (or Universal) House of Justice – the supreme legislative institution of this Order, the institution of the Hands of the Cause and the National and Local Houses of Justice. All of these institutions were made subordinate to the Guardian of the Cause as 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Will included the clear injunction:
"The mighty stronghold shall remain impregnable and safe through obedience to him who is the guardian of the Cause of God."



Sunday, May 11, 2014

RIDVAN MESSAGE (APRIL 2014) BY THE 4TH GUARDIAN NOSRAT U LLAH BAHREMAND





Through the Care of the Hand of the Cause of God,
Jeffrey Goldberg, Secretary-General of the International Bahá'í Council;

To the Faithful and true Bahá'ís around the world,
Dear Friends,
Today, the last day of the Festival of Ridván, is the anniversary of the departure of Bahá'u'lláh from the Garden of Ridván.
During the one and a half century since then, the believers many times and in different condition have been under the fire of tests and trials.
Bahá'u'lláh reveals:
“O COMRADES!
The gates that open on the Placeless stand wide and the habitation of the loved one is adorned with the lovers' blood, yet all but a few remain bereft of this celestial city, and even of these few, none but the smallest handful hath been found with a pure heart and sanctified spirit.” (The Hidden Words)

Friends, be thankful that you are blessed to be among the handful “with a pure heart and sanctified spirit.” This distinction and privilege obligates the Friends to help those who are left behind and awaken those who are misled, before the retributive afflictions and calamities which have been prophesied hit with full force. Humanity at the moment is tasting only a small sample of what is to come.

“The world is in travail, and its agitation waxeth day by day. Its face is turned towards waywardness and unbelief. Such shall be its plight, that to disclose it now would not be meet and seemly. Its perversity will long continue. And when the appointed hour is come, there shall suddenly appear that which shall cause the limbs of mankind to quake. Then, and only then, will the Divine Standard be unfurled, and the Nightingale of Paradise warble its melody.”
  (Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 118)

My fervent hope is that the friends, in cooperation with each other, will illumine the minds and spirits by the light of the teachings of the true Faith of God and save as many misled souls as you can while the time allows.

With best wishes and loving regards,

Nosrat’u’llah Bahremand