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O THOU favored handmaid of the heavenly Kingdom!…
When delivering the glad tidings, speak out and say: the Promised One of all the world’s peoples hath now been made manifest. For each and every people, and every religion, await a Promised One, and Bahá’u’lláh is that One Who is awaited by all; and therefore the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh will bring about the oneness of mankind, and the tabernacle of unity will be upraised on the heights of the world, and the banners of the universality of all humankind will be unfurled on the peaks of the earth. When thou dost loose thy tongue to deliver this great good news, this will become the means of teaching the people.
Exc. fr.: Abdu’l-Baha’, Selections from the Writings of-#65
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Dear friends,
Allah’u’Abha!
Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas and a happy new year!
These days of transition from war to Universal Peace are accompanied with tests for all the people. In the aftermath of war, when peace is established, former combatants must become coworkers and friends, and, due to the trauma and pain associated with the controversy of war, all ones need to be able to overcome and this means manifesting the power forgiveness and love.
This, it turns out, is humanly impossible without the teachings of the Divine religions, that give us a supernatural strength to overcome hate and enmity with the power of Love, that originates in God. While the record of the past must stand, this is not to condemn those who find themselves in the wrong, rather it is to ensure those difficulties will not occur again in the future, and that through our example of forgiveness one to another, future generations will remain free of whatsoever the conflict and strife was about in the past.
This unusual and peculiar teaching is found in the revelations of the Divine manifestations, and is exemplified in the noble example of the Prophets who are the founders and first educators of the reality of an ever advancing civilization.
Here is an example about how ‘Abdu’l-Bahá treated his enemies.
“When the Master came to ‘Akká there lived there a certain man from Afghanistan, an austere and rigid Mussulman. To him the Master was a heretic. He felt and nourished a great enmity towards the Master, and roused up others against him. When opportunity offered in gatherings of the people, as in the Mosque, he denounced him with bitter words. His name was Haji Siddiq Musalman (Muslim).
“‘This man,’ he said to all, ‘is an imposter. Why do you speak to him? Why do you have dealings with him?’ And when he passed the Master on the street he was careful to hold his robe before his face that his sight might not be defiled.
“Thus did the Afghan. The Master, however, did thus:
“The Afghan was poor and lived in a mosque; he was frequently in need of food and clothing. The Master sent him both. These he accepted, but without thanks. He fell sick. The Master took him a physician, food, medicine, money. These, also, he accepted; but as he held out one hand that the physician might take his pulse, with the other he held his cloak before his face that he might not look upon the Master. For twenty-four years the Master continued his kindnesses and the Afghan persisted in his enmity. Then at last one day the Afghan came to the Master’s door, and fell down, penitent and weeping, at his feet.
“‘Forgive me, sir!’ he cried. ‘For twenty-four years I have done evil to you, for twenty-four years you have done good to me. Now I know that I have been in the wrong.’
“The Master bade him rise, and they became friends.” From ‘Abdu’l-Bahá – The Centre of the Covenant, by H.M. Balyuzi.
When confronted by difficult situations, that threaten to attack or put out our inner light and radiant happiness, is the moment to increase our powers of love and life to overcome the darkness of the situation. Otherwise, we, ourselves, will be drawn into the frey, and our own light will cease to shine. The sun doesn’t stop shining in an adverse situation. It is the nature of the sun to shine. It is within the nature of man, to be predisposed to love one another, and to show forth spiritual qualities and attributes which are latent within us. When the test comes, the latent becomes manifest, and the hidden jewel becomes activated, and we have a teaching moment that is an opportunity to grow.
Consider how difficult it is to follow these teachings so revealed, without the power of the Love of God to confirm us!
“One amongst His Teachings is this, that love and good faith must so dominate the human heart that men will regard the stranger as a familiar friend, the malefactor as one of their own, the alien even as a loved one, the enemy as a companion dear and close. Who killeth them, him will they call a bestower of life; who turneth away from them, him will they regard as turning towards them; who denieth their message, him will they consider as one acknowledging its truth. The meaning is that they must treat all humankind even as they treat their sympathizers, their fellow-believers, their loved ones and familiar friends.” (‘Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu’l-Baha, p. 83.)
“Do not rejoice when your enemy falls, and do not let your heart be glad when he stumbles.” (Proverbs 24:17).
Christ said:
“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.
“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;
“That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust.” (Mathew 5: 43-45).
In Islam, Muhammad gave the same directive:
“… good and evil deeds are not alike. Repel evil with good. And he who is your enemy will become your dearest friend.”
(Qur’an 41:33-34.)
The Buddha, in his Middle Length Discourses, instructed all Buddhist monks to treat no one as an enemy:
“Neither will our minds become perverted nor will we utter an evil speech, but kindly and compassionate will we dwell, with a mind of friendliness, void of hatred; and we will dwell having suffused that person with a mind of loving-kindness; and, beginning with him, we will dwell having suffused the whole world with a mind of loving-kindness that is far-reaching, widespread, immeasurable, without enmity, without malevolence.” (Buddha, MN 21.)
According to the Book of Revelation, after the “war (confusion) in heaven” is settled, “woe to you O earth and sea, for the devil (of war) has come down unto you in great wrath”–and we see this repeated during WWI, WWII, and today fulfilled in WWIII, in the material world.
The Kitab-i-‘Ahd settled the war in heaven, designating ‘Abdu’l-Baha as the center of the Covenant, and when this confusion was settled and it’s truth confirmed in the heaven of the hearts, minds, and souls of the believers, and these hostile forces were defeated within the community of the Cause of God, through forgiveness and love of all the friends, and those who were sorely tried and tested were able to overcome, and the Oneness of Humanity and Universal Peace was established amongst all the friends, material war then broke our upon the earth and sea in 1914. The result? War was made illegal by the nations in 1928, all ones entering into the Most Great Covenant of God as prophesied. Millions died in that war, and in the plague of Spanish flu that followed.
Upon the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, war again broke our in “heaven” as people were uneducated and unaware of the principles preserved in the sacred Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha. When the forces of light in defense of that Covenant ended the war in heaven, again war broke out upon earth and sea in 1941. The result? The perpetrators of war were held accountable by the courts that upheld the new law of 1928, made an example in the Nuremberg 10 and Tokyo 7 and others tried for war crimes, in which the very act of making war itself was the initial criminal charge of violating the new Law.
Today, the Baha’is were told, they would not fully understand their Covenant (Kitab-i-‘Ahd and sacred Will and Testament) until after at least a full 100 years transpired. This was fulfilled in 2022 AD, when we discovered the prophesied Kellogg-Briand Paris Peace Pact Covenant, on July 24 of 2022, only AFTER, the 100 years of the sacred Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha (1921 to 2021) was fulfilled. The discovery of the Kellogg-Briand Pact and it’s implications came as a huge earthquake and violent windstorm, amongst all the people in the Baha’i world, and summarily ended the war in heaven, once and for all time, as it is written: “Conflict and Strife are forbidden a rigid prohibition in the Book” (Kitab-i-‘Ahd). This great event, spoken of in the Bible and in the Qur’an only occurred a mere two years ago. And only until this last year have we been able to publish the key writings in The Constitutional Epistle and The Art of Government written by ‘Abdu’l-Baha (that everyone should have received copies) that pertain to HOW to go about upholding the Pact, and remaining firm in the Covenant for our own personal growth and development.
Concurrently, with the final end of the war in heaven, “woe to you O earth and sea” as material war, devastation and destruction has again broke out upon the world between the nations, that the mainstream news media is reporting as the danger of a thermonuclear WWIII. The outcome?
Through the power of prophecy fulfilled God gives us a vision, of how all the peoples will be brought together to set up the Supreme Tribunal correctly, in form and style, to uphold the liberty and freedoms of all ones, by each individual harmonizing their will to the Will of God, which is simply, that war is illegal, and “pacific means” are prescribed. Thus our greatest freedom is in obeying the law, in word and deed, that frees us from all forms of conflict and strife and which ends all forms of despotism and injustices, so an actual war does not occur in the first place.
Now this core understanding is new! And the dust of the confusion is settling, and the people are regaining their wits and comming back to their senses, except: it’s a brand new world! War and violence free, in which unity amongst the Baha’i peoples is now established and love amongst all the friends has been kindled, and discernment and clarity of purpose and good conduct in all relationships again is shining forth.
These prophesied 7 years (2020 to 2027) is the Test of the “week of the covenant” spoken of in the Bible and Qur’an and the Book of Daniel and Book of Revelation.
There are 490 years from the edict of Suleiman the Magnificent to rebuild the walls and moat of Jerusalem given in 1537 AD until 2027 AD, the 70 years of violence and violation of the Covenant from the Martyrdom of Shoghi Effendi in London in 1957. 1537 + 490 years = 2027 AD. 1957 + 70 years = 2027 AD. These prophecied dates pertain to the Covenant of Baha’u’llah, and for the proclamation of the true Baha’i Peace Program (as described in The Constitutional Epistle and The Art of Government) for the coming of the Lesser Peace: Baha’u’llah is the Supreme Manifestation of God and we are His chosen Apostles, and thus this prophesied date pertains to the second coming of Christ that all the people of the world–esp. all the Chistians–are eagerly awaiting.
Thus, this “second half of the week”–the final remainder of it (2025 to 2027) is a precarious time! It is a time for all the friends to come together in common understanding and belief that is only possible through real love and true forgiveness, as every understanding of the faith, prior to the discovery of the prophesied Kellogg-Briand Paris Peace Pact Covenant, was deficient in some form or another: and today, the truth has set us free!
Therefore, as this Covenant is a New Covenant, that ends all confusion and settles all disputes, it necessarily takes time for people to make their necessary adjustments, and all things that occurred in “the days of ignorance” between all individuals and personalities in the past, must remain in the past, and all are to receive forgiveness and to be forgiven, as directed by the divine teachings of the Manifestations cited in this letter.
“History informs us that every age has its special ties which bind the people together; but the strongest tie of all ages, the unbreakable tie which binds the hearts together, is the tie of true religion. Religion has been the means of uniting contending nations and harmonizing warring tribes. There is no agency on this planet more potent than the power of religion. Consider for a moment that in the era of Christ there were many nations who were thirsty for one another’s blood, carrying at intervals fire and sword over the border lines. There were the Romans, the Greeks, Chaldeans, Assyrians and Egyptians. It was impossible to unite these conflicting tribes and peoples; but when the power of religion came into action it swept away all these barriers and cemented these nations that for ages had been waging war.
“By the word religion I do not mean the present dogmatic and theological superstitions which are in the hands of the people. By religion I mean the world of celestial attributes. After the moral aspect of humanity becomes readjusted, then the greatest unity will be realized; but without this moral readjustment it is impossible to establish harmony and concord, for it is a fact that war, conflict, friction and strife are but the visible results of deterioration of morality and corruption of character. But when the morality of humanity is beautified with praiseworthy virtues there will be an end to war.”(‘Abdu’l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, pp. 176-177.)
“War” in all its forms must end and be consistently warded off by the Baha’is, so that ” through the contrast of differing opinions the spark of Truth shall be made known.” Our cause is the cause of diversity–unity in diversity. It is not the cause of conformity nor despotism. Only through being educated to discern the truth with our own eyes can unity in fact and certitude in reality ever be achieved or shared.
When any two or three come together the source-field of reality is manifested, and this material world becomes transformed into either a foundation of Universal peace or an argument of war. Difference and diversity are to be the cause of love and unity, not the cause of quarrels. Mature Spirituality is the outcome of these tests. The forces correctly processed by the unity of the Baha’is, sends out the remedial energies that transforms both earth and sea.
Every one is at a different stage of growth and development. Things that are unworthy of adults are fully acceptable for children destined to grow out of those former behaviors that were essential for the learning process. Practice of forgiveness, seeing none as our enemy, is the Directive. We are a scientific society, and this only works, if all, and each one, is able to express themselves fully and frankly in the SPIRIT of Baha’i Consultation.
Today through the power of the Love of God we are able to do this! Tomorrow the world will be able to do this too, as Ukrainians and Russians, Palestinians and Israelis, Jews Chistians and Muslims will be able to come together as one: united together, all and everyone, in their unified common desire to voluntarily uphold the New Law of the prophesied Kellogg-Briand Paris Peace Pact to elect the Supreme Tribunal to end war, once and forever more.
May this short note inspire everyone to discover and fulfill their personal missions in God, as our diversity shines forth, in the context of our unity as Baha’is in upholding the Most Great Peace founded upon true justice and Loving-kindness for all.
Well-wishing prosperity, health, happiness and protection for all.
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Baha’u’llah:
Cast, then, upon me, O my God, the glances of Thy mercy, and forgive me my trespasses and the trespasses of them that are dear to Thee, and which come in between us and the revelation of Thy triumph and Thy grace. Cancel Thou, moreover, our sins which have shut off our faces from the splendors of the Day-Star of Thy favors. Powerful art Thou to do Thy pleasure. Thou ordainest what Thou willest, and art not asked of what Thou wishest through the power of Thy sovereignty, nor canst Thou be frustrated in whatsoever Thou prescribest through Thine irrevocable decree. No God is there save Thee, the Almighty, the Most Powerful, the Ever-living, the Most Compassionate.
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The Twelve Basic Principles of the Baha’i Faith
The Three Articles of the League of Nations Covenant #2137 Outlawing War. We Call on All Signatory Nations to Come Together and Elect the Committee To Abolish War to Activate This Binding Covenant of Peace and Friendship, GOD’S Covenant of Lasting Peace!
