Unity of Religion
All the Prophets of God abide in the same tabernacle, soar in
the same heaven are seated upon the same throne, utter the same
speech, and proclaim the same Faith. -Bahá'u'lláh ...the fundamental
verity underlying the Bahá'í Faith, that religious truth is not
absolute but relative, that Divine Revelation is not final but
progressive. --Shoghi Effendi
Bahá'í Basics
"The Revelation proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh, His followers
believe, is divine in origin, all-embracing in scope, broad in
its outlook, scientific in its method, humanitarian in its principles
and dynamic in the influence it exerts on the hearts and minds
of men. The mission of the Founder of their Faith, they conceive
it to be to proclaim that religious truth is not absolute but
relative, that Divine Revelation is continuous and progressive,
that the Founders of all past religions, though different in the
non-essential aspects of their teachings, "abide in the same Tabernacle,
soar in the same heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter
the same speech and proclaim the same Faith." His Cause, they
have already demonstrated, stands identified with, and revolves
around, the principle of the organic unity of mankind as representing
the consummation of the whole process of human evolution. This
final stage in this stupendous evolution, they assert, is not
only necessary but inevitable, that it is gradually approaching,
and that nothing short of the celestial potency with which a divinely
ordained Message can claim to be endowed can succeed in establishing
it. The Bahá'í Faith recognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets,
upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, condemns
all forms of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the fundamental
purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it
must go hand-in-hand with science, and that it constitutes the
sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive
society. It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights
and privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education,
abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth, exalts work performed
in the spirit of service to the rank of worship, recommends the
adoption of an auxiliary international language, and provides
the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding
of a permanent and universal peace."
--Shoghi Effendi
Detachment
Rejoice not in the things ye possess: tonight they are yours,
tomorrow others will possess them.
--Bahá'u'lláh
Living the Life
Life
in man should be like a flame, warming all with who it comes in
contact. --'Abdul-Bahá
Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy
of the trust of they neighbor, and look upon him with a bright
and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to
the rich, an answerer to the cry of the needy, a preserver of
the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded
in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all
men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the
sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed,
an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity
and uprightness distinguish all thin acts. Be a home for the stranger,
a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive.
Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the
erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to
the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness,
a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts
of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the
soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun
in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shinning
light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree
of humility. --Bahá'u'lláh
Let not your heart be offended with anyone. If someone commits
an error and wrong toward you, you must instantly forgive him.
Do not complain of others. Refrain from reprimanding them, and
if you wish to give admonition or advice lit it be offered in
such a way that it will not burden the receiver. --'Abdul-Bahá
If you desire with all your heart, friendship with every race
on earth, your thought, spiritual and positive, will spread; it
will become the desire of others, growing stronger and stronger,
until it reaches the minds of all men. --'Abdul-Bahá
