To the Friends in India, the United States, and sundry places:
Dear friends,
NINTH DAY: April 29, 2014
May
this Ridvan 2014 find you and your loved ones blessed, confirmed, and
supported by God, assisted from on high by the Divine Concourse, and
inspired to continue on your chosen paths!
When
Baha’u’llah proclaimed the Oneness of Humanity it was at a time in
human history when the people of the world were divided into sects,
diverse tribes, and nationalities. The people of those times did not
believe that all the human beings were part of one family. Instead they
believed they were in competition (not cooperation) one with another.
Since Baha’u’llah’s initial proclamation in 1863 these false concepts
against the Oneness of Humanity have been steadily withering away.
Furthermore,
when these man-made prejudices are finally dissolved out of the mind of
the individual seeker the reality that all humankind is one family is
seen as a statement of real fact by Baha’u’llah and not just a mere
superstition or of empty statement of blind belief.
The same is true of the other of the 12 Principles of Baha’u’llah (http://uhj.net/ bahaiprinciples/bahai-12- principles.html) each of which on its own has singly the power to form a foundation of human civilization independent of the other principles.
However
when we put all 12 of these foundations together we have the firm
foundation for the secret of a true divine civilization for all the
people of the planet which is promised and prophesied in all the books
and sacred scriptures of God.
For
example when we cease to blindly believe that others (clergy, priests,
imams, etc.) will tell us the truth--we then realize that we have the
ability to see the truth with our own eyes and not through the eyes of
our neighbor. Thus the independent investigation of the truth is not a
mere belief but is a statement of real fact by Baha’u’llah--an essential
human truth, a scared human right. It is the foundation of true justice
for each individual to see reality and have their own direct and
immediate personal experience and relationship with God.
These
first two principles, therefore, embody the Oneness of Humanity and
Justice for all people. They interlock concerning the importance of the
individual in the group--each supporting one another. These two
principles hallmark our Baha’i watchword of “unity in diversity.”
Today--150 years after Baha’u’llah’s Proclamation--the majority of
people in the world are also in alignment with these teachings:
upholding these chief principles through they may have not as of yet
realized their source in the Revelation of Baha’u’llah.
For
those of us who have recognize the Source and Covenant today--we are
privilege to meet and assemble in the conscious knowing of the name
Baha’i--to remain firm under the provisions of the Covenant, loyal to
every single provisions of the sacred Will and Testament of
‘Abdu’l-Baha; and to form, grow and develop our local, regional,
national, and international institutions to manage our joint and
inter-collective Baha’i affairs.
Eventually
as the majority of people recognize this source (the power of the
Covenant itself) the world will be transformed from one of war,
prejudiced, and bigotry to one of Justice, Love, Education, and
Fellowship for all. In the meanwhile, the spiritually awakened and
active members of the International Community of the Covenant--along
with the living Davidic King (entitled the guardian of the Baha’i faith)
are able to share and partake equally in the universal vision of
Baha’u’llah and see the hope that future comes!
The
progress of the faith since the 9-11, 2001 has seen a phenomenal rise
of international teachers, guides, and centers throughout the remotest
and distant parts of the globe. The establishment of the National Baha’i
Councils in both India and America are leading the way toward the
unification of East and West through the knowledge of God being united
with the love of God as practiced in both of these twin sister
communities.
To
the friends of India the firm development of two main centers of
activity in the East and West of that country have strengthened the
foundation of the National Teaching effort and with the further
formation of two more local centers of activity--for a total of four
foundations--will then open the door for the national election in
India.
To the friends in America the strengthening of the four centers of activity as given by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in his Tablets of the Divine of Plan has
overturned the forces of the enemy in the United States and laid the
foundation for the elections of its National Council--a victory not seen
in the United States since 1963 due to the attacks of the
Covenant-breakers in America against the appointed successors of the
faith and the person of the living guardian.
Through
these tests, trails, and tribulations our international community has
become purified and distilled so that only those who have the highest
forms of love, loyalty, devotion, and personal spiritual stability
remain active at the core as those who exhibit the true spirit of Baha in their personal inner lives and in the world today.
‘Abdu’l-Baha tells us in the Tablets of the Divine Plan that
we must do three things in order to receive our rays of the Holy
Spirit: teach, be firm in the covenant, and love all the people of the
world. These are really three aspects of one thing. We do this and
perform these functions to fulfill our personal purpose to know and love
God. While teaching activity tends to increase our numbers--the
greatness or fewness of our numbers does not effect our receipt of the
rays of the Holy Spirit or our own individual happiness and activity. It
is our own individual happiness and activity in teaching that brings
about our firmness in the Covenant and our love for all people. Thus our
teaching activity draws down, so to speak, the rays of the Holy Spirit
upon us. What a privilege and grace and glory and a supreme happiness to
be able to share our understanding of spirituality and the Cause of God
today in this Day of Days!!
We
must teach therefore, for the personal salvation of nearness to God for
our own selves. To place ourselves into the thick of activity, that
will give us the opportunity in this temporal life, to win our
stations--the perfection of ourselves--by assisting the forces of light
to overcome the forces of darkness, ignorance, and social and spiritual
ills.
Winning
these battles and evolving personally is a great pleasure and spiritual
gift and bounty of activity that transforms the individual and the
community in which we live. Our town was dark--now it is light. The
community was despondent--now they are vibrant. Our country was
misled--now they are guided! This uplifting spirit cannot be garnered
from another soul. It must well out from within the depths of our own
selves in the magnetic challenge to bring this message to the other
people in the community at large. It is through working with a group
that the individual grows, transforms, and evolves. Thus while the group
will benefit it is the individual who gets the lion’s share, so to
speak. For it is the individual who in activity accelerates on the
spiritual path at an advanced and more intense rate. Blessed are those
who begin this progress so that their capacity for the strenuousness of
tests may increase day by day--for this is in reality the increase of
capacity for the spiritual intensity of the Presence of His Divine and
Holy Court.
Those
that arise to this occasion are the guides and lights of the world of
humanity the real lights of the universe that reflect the spiritual
qualities and attributes of God as revealed by His Holy Revelators
through all the aeons and dispensations: of yesterday, of tomorrow, and
of today.
Turning
away from the sans-guardian peoples we may now focus our attention
again on the mainstream communities in our Countries whether they be
Christian or Hindu or something else.
In
one hour, if these people are found to accept the 12 Basic Baha’i
Principles then we have found our other fellow Baha’is. They may
immediately join us at the 19 days feasts, assemblies, other meetings
and holy gatherings!
The friends should take this to heart.
In
local communities if we invite those to a Baha’i fireside--this
fireside need only deepen on the 12 Principles and if at that meeting
the people attending are accepting these 12 Principles then they may
immediately be accepted as the true believers they truly are by our
local community and come to our local feasts.
In
these communities--they will then be able to deepen in the teachings as
well as go through the 7 Fireside Sessions that we now have on
line--after already having been recognized by the local community, local
teacher, or local group as one of our fellow Baha’is due to their
having already accepted the Faith as summed up in the 12 Principles.
For this reason I list the 12 Principles here again which everyone should memorize in order:
(1) The Oneness of Humanity
(2) The Independent Unfettered Investigation of the Truth
(3) Religion is Progressive having a Common Foundation
(4) Religion must be the Cause of Unity
(5) True Science and True Religion must Agree
(6) The Equality of Mena and Women
(7) Elimination of Prejudiced of All Kinds
(8) Universal Peace Upheld by A Spiritual World Government
(9) Universal Compulsory Education
(10) A Spiritual Solution to the Economic Problem
(11) A Universal Auxiliary Language
(12) A Universal House of Justice with the living Davidic King as its President
The
twelfth principle embodies the meaning of the Covenant and Succession
in the Davidic Kingship as the presidents of the UHJ which is prophesied
and promised in all the books of God.
The
point is this: we do not wish to argue about religion or the faith or
spiritual topics with anyone. Therefore we are not seeking to convert
anyone at this time nor to persuade them to change their mind in any
way. Our goal is to find the rest of the people who are already Baha’is
that already Satisfy the Criteria of the 12
Principle that are already able to immediately recognize this is their
religion through they didn’t know it until that very moment!
This
is the focus of the teaching effort at this time. To find our fellow
believers from out of the community at large. Upon seeing these 12
principles the Baha’is are those who immediately accept that this is
already their beliefs. They are immediately recognized as Baha’is and
can immediately attend the 19 Days Feats and weekly forum meetings.
After
this recognition they may continue to go through the 7 Fireside
sessions and deepen in the Covenant. Why? So being spiritual alive and
active they may receive the real spiritual food--and an education in
religion--the waters of life that free of price--and so seeing the deep
things of God may not be corrupted or de-railed in their newly found
faith by clergy, the people of the “hands” or something else. All the
Baha’is must show forth being knowledgeable in their faith,
understanding the history of religions, and having a working knowledge
of the protecting their own faith from the guile of others whether that
be of the ignorant or of the arch violators. Thus may all the people
become independent of all save God.
Our
goal is to find the rest of our spiritual brothers and sisters in
Faith. We know them by their fruits. These fruits are the 12 Principles
by which they are already living their lives and practicing their
individual spirituality and personal faith whether they had already
heard the name Baha’i or not. Once hearing this name--we may then
assemble to gather in the our Circles of the Covenant and having local
communities grow--and by the Covenant remain protected by God from the
forces of negativity that seek to “scatter the gathering of the people
of Baha” (W&T, p. 12).
“When
the victory arriveth, every man shall profess himself as believer and
shall hasten to the shelter of God's Faith. Happy are they who in the
days of world-encompassing trials have stood fast in the Cause and
refused to swerve from its truth.” (Baha’u’llah, Gleanings, CL)
May
this Ridvan find you all well and happy: beloved by God! The Best
things of this world and the next and all the blessings of God be upon
you!!
Your servant,
Neal.
