Quotes from Baha'i sources:

The everlasting, evershining Sun..

Likewise in the spiritual realm of intelligence and idealism there must be a center of illumination, and that center is the everlasting, ever-shining Sun, the Word of God. Its lights are the lights of reality which have shone upon humanity, illumining the realm of thought and morals, conferring the bounties of the divine world upon man. These lights are the cause of the education of souls and the source of the enlightenment of hearts, sending forth in effulgent radiance the message of the glad-tidings of the Kingdom of God.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 11
 
A word of warning..

"To whoever may read these pages a word of warning seems, however, advisable before I proceed further with the development of my argument. Let no one meditating, in the light of the afore-quoted passages, on the nature of the Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, mistake its character or misconstrue the intent of its Author.

"The divinity attributed to so great a Being and the complete incarnation of the names and attributes of God in so exalted a Person should, under no circumstances, be misconceived or misinterpreted.

"The human temple that has been made the vehicle of so overpowering a Revelation must, if we be faithful to the tenets of our Faith, ever remain entirely distinguished from that "innermost Spirit of Spirits" and "eternal Essence of Essences"--that invisible yet rational God Who, however much we extol the divinity of His Manifestations on earth, can in no wise incarnate His infinite, His unknowable, His incorruptible and all-embracing Reality in the concrete and limited frame of a mortal being.

"Indeed, the God Who could so incarnate His own reality would, in the light of the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh, cease immediately to be God. So crude and fantastic a theory of Divine incarnation is as removed from, and incompatible with, the essentials of Bahá'í belief as are the no less inadmissible pantheistic and anthropomorphic conceptions of God-- "

Shoghi Effendi The World Order of Baha'u'llah p. 112
 
Making the soul to shake with the flashing light...

By My life, O friend, wert thou to taste of these fruits, from the green garden of these blossoms which grow in the lands of knowledge, beside the orient lights of the Essence in the mirrors of names and attributes -- yearning would seize the reins of patience and reserve from out thy hand, and make thy soul to shake with the flashing light, and draw thee from the earthly homeland to the first, heavenly abode in the Center of Realities, and lift thee to a plane wherein thou wouldst soar in the air even as thou walkest upon the earth, and move over the water as thou runnest on the land.

Wherefore, may it rejoice Me, and thee, and whosoever mounteth into the heaven of knowledge, and whose heart is refreshed by this, that the wind of certitude hath blown over the garden of his being, from the Sheba of the All-Merciful.


~ Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 3
 
Peace is health and construction...

Peace is health and construction; war is disease and dissolution. When the banner of truth is raised, peace becomes the cause of the welfare and advancement of the human world. In all cycles and ages war has been a factor of derangement and discomfort whereas peace and brotherhood have brought security and consideration of human interests. This distinction is especially pronounced in the present world conditions, for warfare in former centuries had not attained the degree of savagery and destructiveness which now characterizes it.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Foundations of World Unity, p. 20
 
A few economic quotes

“Regarding the economic prejudice, it is apparent that whenever the ties between nations become strengthened and the exchange of commodities accelerated, and any economic principle is established in one country, it will ultimately affect the other countries and universal benefits will result. Then why this prejudice?”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Bahá’í World Faith, p. 288

“The rich will enjoy the privilege of this new economic condition as well as the poor, for owing to certain provisions and restrictions they will not be able to accumulate so much as to be burdened by its management, while the poor will be relieved from the stress of want and misery. The rich will enjoy his palace, and the poor will have his comfortable cottage.”
‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 132

Our Evolution
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This is a new cycle ....

This is a new cycle of human power. All the horizons of the world are luminous, and the world will become indeed as a garden and a paradise. It is the hour of unity of the sons of men and of the drawing together of all races and all classes. You are loosed from ancient superstitions which have kept men ignorant, destroying the foundation of true humanity.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 19
 
A first hand account...

But when I saw myself at the culmination of calamity, I heard, from above my head, the Most Wonderful [wonderful] and Melodious Voice [melodious
voice], and when I turned I witnessed an Houri [a Maiden] (Nymph of
Paradise) of the celebration of the Name of my Lord, suspended in the air
on a level with my head; [.] I saw her, that she was indeed rejoicing
within herself as though the embroidered Garment [garment] of pleasure was
manifesting itself upon her face, and the brightness of the Merciful was
apparent upon her cheeks; and between the earth and heaven, she was
uttering a call, by which all the hearts and minds will be drawn, and at
the same time, gladdening all the limbs of my internal and external being,
with glad-tidings that made my soul rejoice, and those of the noble
servants. Then with her finger, she pointed to my head, and addressed all
those in heaven and earth saying: "By God, This is indeed the Beloved of
the universe, but ye do not understand! This is the Beauty of God among
you, and His Dominion within you, if ye are those who know! This is the
Mystery of God, His Treasure, the Command of God, and His Glory, to those
who are in the Kingdom of power and creation were ye of those who reason!
This is the One whose meeting will be longed for by all those who dwell in
the everlasting spiritual world, and who have taken a station for
themselves in the tents of El-ABHA [El-Abha] while ye yourselves are
turned away from His Beauty!

~ Baha'u'llah Provisional translation of the Tablet of the Temple
 
If an active, actual peace is brought about...

If an active, actual peace is brought about, the human world will attain to the utmost serenity and composure; wolves will be transformed into lambs, devils into angels, and terrors into divine splendors in less than the twinkling of an eye.

BAHA'U'LLAH is the divine physician who diagnoses the world's malady; for the whole planet is ill and needs the power of a great specialist.
BAHA'U'LLAH'S teachings are the health of the world. They represent the spirit of this age, the light of this age, the well-being of this age, the soul of this cycle. The world will be at rest when they are put into practice, for they are reality.

Praise be to God, the doors of divine knowledge are flung wide, the infinite light is shining, and to such as believe and obey the divine mysteries are revealed.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 85
 
Detachment...

Detachment does not consist in setting fire to one's house, or becoming bankrupt or throwing one's fortune out of the window, or even giving away all of one's possessions. Detachment consists in refraining from letting our possessions possess us. A prosperous merchant who is not absorbed in his business knows severance. A banker whose occupation does not prevent him from serving humanity is severed. A poor man can be attached to a small thing.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 135
 
Recite thou this prayer...

Recite thou this prayer that hath flowed from the tongue of this Wronged One, and ponder thereon with a heart rid of all attachment, and with ears that are pure and sanctified, be attentive to its meaning, that haply thou mayest inhale the breath of detachment and have pity upon thyself and upon others:

"My God, the Object of my adoration, the Goal of my desire, the All-Bountiful, the Most Compassionate!

All life is of Thee, and all power lieth within the grasp of Thine omnipotence. Whosoever Thou exaltest is raised above the angels, and attaineth the station: 'Verily, We uplifted him to a place on high!'; and whosoever Thou dost abase is made lower than dust, nay, less than nothing. O Divine Providence!

Though wicked, sinful, and intemperate, we still seek from Thee a 'seat of truth,' and long to behold the countenance of the Omnipotent King.

It is Thine to command, and all sovereignty belongeth to Thee, and the realm of might boweth before Thy behest. Everything Thou doest is pure justice, nay, the very essence of grace. One gleam from the splendors of Thy Name, the All-Merciful, sufficeth to banish and blot out every trace of sinfulness from the world, and a single breath from the breezes of the Day of Thy Revelation is enough to adorn all mankind with a fresh attire.

Vouchsafe Thy strength, O Almighty One, unto Thy weak creatures, and quicken them who are as dead, that haply they may find Thee, and may be led unto the ocean of Thy guidance, and may remain steadfast in Thy Cause.

Should the fragrance of Thy praise be shed abroad by any of the divers tongues of the world, out of the East or out of the West, it would, verily, be prized and greatly cherished. If such tongues, however, be deprived of that fragrance, they assuredly would be unworthy of any mention, in word or yet in thought.

We beg of Thee, O Providence, to show Thy way unto all men, and to guide them aright. Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Seeing."

~ Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 9
 
"There is a man in Persia who holds the secret..."

Re. Count Leo Tolstoy

The same questioner said:

"I have read much of Tolstoy and I see a parallel between his teachings and yours. In one of his books he speaks of the Enigma of Life, and describes how life is wasted in our endeavour to find the Key. But Tolstoy goes on to say: 'There is a man in Persia who holds the secret.'"

"Yes," said 'Abdu'l-Bahá, "I received a letter from Tolstoy, and in it he said that he wished to write a book upon Bahá'u'lláh."

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 94
 
Tahirih's dream...

Tahirih had caught fire. She set out for Karbila, hoping to meet Siyyid Kazim, but she arrived too late: ten days before she reached that city, he passed away. Not long before his death the Siyyid had shared with his disciples the good news that the promised Advent was at hand. "Go forth," he repeatedly told them, "and seek out your Lord." Thus the most distinguished of his followers gathered for retirement and prayer, for fasts and vigils, in the Masjid-i-Kufih, while some awaited the Advent in Karbila.

Among these was Tahirih, fasting by day, practicing religious disciplines, and spending the night in vigils, and chanting prayers.

One night when it was getting along toward dawn she laid her head on her pillow, lost all awareness of this earthly life, and dreamed a dream; in her vision a youth, a Siyyid, wearing a black cloak and a green turban, appeared to her in the heavens; he was standing in the air, reciting verses and praying with his hands upraised. At once, she memorized one of those verses, and wrote it down in her notebook when she awoke.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 193
 
Tahirih's dream comes true!

After the Báb had declared His mission, and His first book, "The Best of Stories,"[1] was circulated, Tahirih was reading a section of the text one day, and she came upon that same verse, which she had noted down from the dream. Instantly offering thanks, she fell to her knees and bowed her forehead to the ground, convinced that the Báb's message was truth.
[1The "Ahsanu'l-Qisas," the Báb's commentary on the Surih of Joseph, was called the Qur'án of the Bábís, and was translated from Arabic into Persian by Tahirih. Cf. God Passes By, p. 23.]

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Memorials of the Faithful, p. 193
 
Concepts of Satan or the Devil rejected ...

"In answer to those who may ask you what the stand is of your religion on the subject of demons, you can say without hesitation that the concept of Satan or the Devil as an actual being opposed to God is rejected by the Bahá'í teachings but that the term is understood by Bahá'ís to mean the promptings of self and desire and the dark side of human nature."

(13 February 1974, from the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)
 
All the Prophets have come with the Holy Spirit...

Therefore, men have always been taught and led by the Prophets of God. The Prophets of God are the Mediators of God. All the Prophets and Messengers have come from One Holy Spirit and bear the Message of God, fitted to the age in which they appear. The One Light is in them and they are One with each other. But the Eternal does not become phenomenal; neither can the phenomenal become Eternal.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 23
 
There lies a Garden..

'There lies a garden in which there are trees with broken branches bearing no fruit, and the leaves thereof are faded and yellow! In that garden, also, there are flowering plants with no blooms, and rose bushes withered and dying -- go not into that garden!'

A just man, hearing this account of the garden, would not be content without seeing for himself whether it be true or not. He, therefore, enters the garden, and behold, he finds it well tilled; the branches of the trees are sturdy and strong, being also loaded with the sweetest of ripe fruits amongst the luxuriance of beautiful green leaves. The flowering plants are bright with many-hued blossoms; the rose bushes are covered with fragrant and lovely roses and all is verdant and well tended.

When the glory of the garden is spread out before the eyes of the just man, he praises God that, through unworthy calumny, he has been led into a place of such wondrous beauty!

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 103
 
Be not disheartened..

O maid-servant of God! Be not disheartened if thou hearest the murmuring of the deniers, the clamor of the hypocrites, the shouting of the contradictors, the barking of the furious, harmful dogs, in those climes.

Remember the persecutions which consecutively befell the disciples of Christ from the perverse Jews. Consequently, withstand their oppositions with all quiescence and dignity (patience) and their contradictions with all cheerfulness, gladness and dilation of heart (i. e., exaltation) by day and night.

Resist their fighting with peace and reconciliation, their blows with kindness and perfection and their blame with joy and tranquillity. Do beseech God to direct them to the Path of Salvation and breathe into them the Spirit of Life.

Be thou a light to every darkness, a dispeller of every sadness, a healer for every sick person, a quencher for every thirst, a shelter for every refugee, a refuge for every captive.

If the Pharisees interfere with thee, it is incumbent upon thee to implore God to guide them to the road of salvation! And it is incumbent upon thee to be affable to them under all circumstances, to be patient in afflictions, to be courteous with the enemies and to pray for the hateful sinners! This is the nature of the faithful and convinced women believers whose hearts are dilated with the fragrances of God and who instruct (people) in the teachings of God!

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v2, p. 285
 
Abdul-Baha sends greetings for Naw-Ruz

A FEW days ago an epistle was written to those divine believers, but because these days are the days of Naw-Ruz, you have come to my mind and I am sending you this greeting for this glorious feast.

All the days are blessed, but this feast is the national fete of Persia.

The Persians have been holding it for several thousand years past. In reality every day which man passes in the mention of God, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and calling the people to the Kingdom of God, that day is his feast.

Praise be to God that you are occupied in the service of the Kingdom of God and are engaged in the promulgation of the religion of God by day and by night. Therefore all your days are feast days. There is no doubt that the assistance and the bestowal of God shall descend upon you.

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of the Divine Plan, p. 10
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O kind Lord! O Comforter of anguished hearts!

O kind Lord! O Comforter of anguished hearts!

Send down Thy mercy upon us, and Thy grace, bestow upon us patience, give us the strength to endure. With Thy generous hand, lay Thou a balm upon our sores, grant us a medicine for this never-healing woe. Console Thou Thy loved ones, comfort Thy friends and handmaids, heal Thou our wounded breasts, and with Thy bounty's remedy, restore our festering hearts.

With the gentle breeze of Thy compassion, make fresh and green again these boughs, withered by autumn blasts; restore Thou to flourishing life these flowers, shrivelled by the blight of bereavement.

With tidings of the Abha Paradise, wed Thou our souls to joy, and rejoice Thou our spirits with heartening voices from the dwellers in the realm of glory.

Thou art the Bounteous, Thou art the Clement; Thou art the Bestower, the Loving.

~ Bahiyyih Khanum

(Compilations, Bahiyyih Khanum, p. 149)
 
arthra said:
"The emancipation of women, the achievement of full equality between the sexes, is one of the most important though less acknowledged prerequisites of peace.

The denial of such equality perpetrates an injustice against one half of the world's population and promotes in men harmful attitudes and habits that are carried from the family to the workplace, to political life, and ultimately to international relations.

There are no grounds, moral, practical, or biological, upon which such denial can be justified. Only as women are welcomed into full partnership in all fields of human endeavor will the moral and psychological climate be created in which international peace can emerge."

The Universal House of Justice, The Promise of World Peace, pp. 11-12.
Click to expand...

hi friend artha
just thought l'd check your first thread, hey presto a truth is told on happy mothers day!
 
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