Science as investigation, foundation of all individual development

'Abdu'l-Bahá has stated regarding this central discipline:

Science may be likened to a mirror wherein the images of the mysteries of outer phenomena are reflected. It brings forth and exhibits to us in the arena of knowledge all the product of the past. It links together past and present..Science is the discoverer of the past. From its premises of past and present we deduce conclusions as to the future. ... All created things are captives of nature and subject to its laws. They cannot transgress the control of these laws in one detail or particular. ... But man through the exercise of his scientific, intellectual power can rise out of this condition, can modify, change and control nature according to his own wishes and uses. Science, so to speak, is the breaker of the laws of nature.

* * *

[S]cience...is the very foundation of all individual and national development. Without this basis of investigation, development is impossible. Therefore, seek with diligent endeavour the knowledge and attainment of all that lies within the power of this wonderful bestowal.

(PUP 29 and 50)

In Time of Generosity, 600,000 Nepalis Denied Urgent Food Aid

In this season of giving, a sad plight to reflect on. The number of lives affected is staggering, while the money needed is, as shown below, relatively little. In this connection, 'Abdu'l-Bahá stated:

The greatest means for prevention [of extreme poeverty] is that whereby the laws of the community will be so framed and enacted that it will not be possible for a few to be millionaires and many destitute. One of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings is the adjustment of means of livelihood in human society.

Hence the urgency of spreading knowledge of this divine System!

A satisfactory solution to the world's present economic crisis lies in a profound change of heart and mind which only religion can produce.
- Bahá'í International Community, Teachings

U.N. stops food aid to over half a million Nepalis

NEW DELHI (AlertNet) - The United Nations has been forced to stop feeding over half a million people in Nepal due to a critical funding shortfall caused by the financial downturn, a World Food Programme (WFP) official said on Wednesday.

The U.N. agency says it needs $20 million to continue feeding 600,000 people -- more than a quarter of the total number it was assisting -- in the impoverished Himalayan nation over the next three months. ...

Nepal already has the some of the world's highest rates of child malnutrition, with about 48 percent of children under five considered poor or inadequately fed. "This is essentially a silent emergency," said Hyde [WFP's deputy country representative]. "This is because those who are being impacted the greatest are in some of the most isolated places on earth."

From Reuters AlertNet - access here.

"We must be like the fountain or spring that is continually emptying itself of all that it has and is continually being refilled from an invisible source... [T]his is the secret of right living."
 - Shoghi Effendi, Compilation

From the Bahá'í writings on caring for those in need:

What could be better before God than thinking of the poor? For the poor are beloved by our heavenly Father. When Christ came upon the earth, those who believed in Him and followed Him were the poor and lowly, showing that the poor were near to God. ... [T]he poor are especially beloved of God. Their lives are full of difficulties, their trials continual, their hopes are in God alone. Therefore, you must assist the poor as much as possible, even by sacrifice of yourself. No deed of man is greater before God than helping the poor. ... Each one of you must have great consideration for the poor and render them assistance. Organize in an effort to help them and prevent increase of poverty. The greatest means for prevention is that whereby the laws of the community will be so framed and enacted that it will not be possible for a few to be millionaires and many destitute. One of Bahá'u'lláh's teachings is the adjustment of means of livelihood in human society. Under this adjustment there can be no extremes in human conditions as regards wealth and sustenance. ...

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, PUP 216

Photo sources are here and here (latter copyright Bahá'í International Community).

The vision of a peaceful world

Bahá'u'lláh wrote in the 19th century: "Let your vision be world embracing, rather than confined to your own selves."
How might we participate in this vision, and what might it enable us to do?
Here from the head of Worldwide Federation of UN Associations (WFUNA):

"Global citizenship has been an ongoing theme for the WFUNA in the past year. Every individual who is a part of our network is a Global Citizen. We are all committed to the ideals of the United Nations, express an acute interest in today's global issues, and are working towards a world of peaceful cooperation, sustainable development, and human rights for all people."

- Bonian Golmohammadi, Secretary-General http://is.gd/5ALZz

    God's greatest gift to man is that of intellect, or understanding...
    Possessing this gift, he...can frequently...reach out with prophetic vision.
    God gave this power to man that it might be used for the advancement of civilization, for the good of humanity, to increase love and concord and peace. ... Christ has commanded that [we] should love [our fellow-creatures as ourselves]!
    I hope that you will use your understanding to promote the unity and tranquillity of mankind, to give enlightenment and civilization to the people, to produce love in all around you, and to bring about the universal peace. ...
   [A]cquire more and more knowledge. Assuredly one may learn to the end of one's life! Use your knowledge always for the benefit of others; so may war cease on the face of this beautiful earth, and a glorious edifice of peace and concord be raised.

    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.
    Do not despair! Work steadily. Sincerity and love will conquer hate. How many seemingly impossible events are coming to pass in these days! Set your faces steadily towards the Light of the World. ...

    By the fire of the Love of God the veil is burnt which separates us from the Heavenly Realities, and with clear vision we are enabled to struggle onward and upward, ever progressing in the paths of virtue and holiness, and becoming the means of light to the world. 

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá http://is.gd/5ANxU, http://is.gd/5ANvv, http://is.gd/5AP4p

Photo copyright Bahá'í International Community. View here.

The mysterious power in God's mention, in glorifying His praise

Consider this passage:

Blessed is the spot, and the house, and the place, and the city, and the heart, and the mountain, and the refuge, and the cave, and the valley, and the land, and the sea, and the island, and the meadow where mention of God hath been made, and His praise glorified.

- Bahá'u'lláh http://is.gd/5ztAo

What is there, actually, in such a heavenly "blessing"?




Photo copyright Bahá'í International Community. View here.

The gift of remembrance - an opportunity to understand history

Excerpts from a thought-provoking article in the New York Times, and from the House of Justice's analysis of the significance of the events of the 20th century, Century of Light.

"...the gift of remembrance for peoples, as for individuals, is the beginning of any psychological cure. Hence the importance of the theme of decline.
"...one simple truth: Those who have the best tools to make history are also those who have the sharpest awareness of its tragic character. The great disasters of the 20th century are all part of our heritage. We are creatures of the decline and the abyss, thirsty for rebirth and salvation."

- The Decline of the West by THÉRÈSE DELPECH, published on NYTimes.com, December 21, 2009

    The twentieth century, the most turbulent in the history of the human race, has reached its end. ...

    Only as humanity comes to understand the implications of what occurred during this [great turning point through which our world has passed in these crucial hundred years] will it be able to meet the challenges that lie ahead. The value of the contribution we as Bahá'ís can make to the process demands that we ourselves grasp the significance of the historic transformation wrought by the twentieth century. ... It is this opportunity that the following pages address.

- Century of Light, The Universal House of Justice, p. 1

Book cover from here.

Time to wait?

Time to contemplate?

"There is no time to lose. There is no room left for vacillation. Multitudes hunger for the Bread of Life. The stage is set. The firm and irrevocable Promise is given. God's own Plan has been set in motion. It is gathering momentum with every passing day. The powers of heaven and earth mysteriously assist in its execution. Such an opportunity is irreplaceable. Let the doubter arise and himself verify the truth of such assertions. To try, to persevere, is to insure ultimate and complete victory."


"The Kingdom of God," writes 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "is possessed of limitless potency. Audacious must be the army of life if the confirming aid of that Kingdom is to be repeatedly vouchsafed unto it…. Vast is the arena, and the time ripe to spur on the charger within it. Now is the time to reveal the force of one's strength, the stoutness of one's heart and the might of one's soul." ...

- Shoghi Effendi, both excerpts from letter of January 28, 1939
http://is.gd/5wSkV, http://is.gd/5wRkM

Image source: sxu.hu

Here and now

So much to do, so little time.
Yet above all, contentment, thankfulness;
Life doesn't end at death -
the here and NOW spells our eternal quest. 

Be not troubled because of hardships and ordeals; turn unto God, bowing in humbleness and praying to Him, while bearing every ordeal, contented under all conditions and thankful in every difficulty.


- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Tablets 51


The virtues and attributes pertaining unto God are all evident and manifest, and have been mentioned and described in all the heavenly Books. Among them are...contentment with the things His Will hath provided, patience, nay, thankfulness in the midst of tribulation, and complete reliance, in all circumstances, upon Him.


- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings 290


From amongst all mankind hath He chosen you, and your eyes have been opened to the light of guidance and your ears attuned to the music of the Company above; and blessed by abounding grace, your hearts and souls have been born into new life. Thank ye and praise ye God that the hand of infinite bestowals hath set upon your heads this gem-studded crown, this crown whose lustrous jewels will forever flash and sparkle down all the reaches of time.
To thank Him for this, make ye a mighty effort, and choose for yourselves a noble goal. Through the power of faith, obey ye the teachings of God, and let all your actions conform to His laws. Read ye The Hidden Words, ponder the inner meanings thereof, act in accord therewith. Read, with close attention, the Tablets of Tarazát (Ornaments), Kalímát (Words of Paradise), Tajallíyyát (Effulgences), Ishráqát (Splendours), and Bishárát (Glad Tidings), and rise up as ye are bidden in the heavenly teachings. Thus may each one of you be even as a candle casting its light, the centre of attraction wherever people come together; and from you, as from a bed of flowers, may sweet scents be shed.


- 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections 35-6


"Success or failure, gain or loss, must...depend upon man's own exertions. The more he striveth, the greater will be his progress."


- Bahá'u'lláh, Gleanings 81-2

Photo source: stock.xchng