Extracts from the Writings of the Baha'i Faith on Universal Peace and
World Healing Selections by Baha'u'llah (1817-1892), Prophet-Founder of
the Baha'i Faith, and Abdu'l Baha (1844-1921), His son and appointed
successor and interpreter

"The well-being of humanity, its peace and security, is unattainable
unless and until its Unity is firmly established."

 "O thou seeker after the Kingdom!  Every divine Manifestation* is the
 very life of the world, and the skilled Physiscian of each ailing soul.
 The world of man is sick and that competent Physician knoweth the cure,
 arising as He doth with teachings, counsels and admonishments that are
 the remedy for every pain, the healing balm to every wound.  It is
 certain that the wise physician can diagnose his patient's needs at any
 season and apply the cure..."

*Manifestation: Major Prophet (Moses, Krishna, Buddha, Jesus, Mohammed,
Baha'u'llah, etc.)

 "O ye lovers of God!  The world is even as a human being who is
diseased and impotent, whose eyes can see no longer, whose ears have
gone deaf, all of whose powers are corroded and used up.  Wherefore must
the friends of God be competent physicians who, following the holy
teachings, will nurse this patient back to health.

 That which the Lord hath ordained as the sovereign remedy and mightiest
instrument for the healing of all the world is the union of its peoples
in one universal Cause, one common Faith. This can in no wise be
achieved except through the power of a skilled, an all-powerful and
inspired Physician.  This, verily, is the truth, and all else naught but
error."

 "The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind.  He
perceiveth the disease, and proscribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the
remedy.  Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular
aspiration.  The remedy the world needeth in its present-day
afflications can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may
require.  Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in,
and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.

 We can will perceive how the whole human race is encompassed with
great, with incalcuable afflictions.  We see it languishing on its bed
of sickness, sore-tried and disillusioned.  They that are intoxicated by
self-conceit have interposed themselves between it and the Divine and
infallible Physician.  Witness how they have entangled all men,
themselves included, in the mesh of their devices.  They can neither
discover the cause of the disease, nor have they any knowledge of the
remedy.  They have conceived the stright to be crooked, and have
imagined their friend an enemy.

 Incline your ears to the sweet melody of this Prisoner*.  Arise, and
lift up your voices, that haply they that are fast asleep may be
awakened."

*Prisoner: Baha'u'llah, who was exiled from Persia and imprisoned for
forty years in several places, including his final prison in Akka,
Palestine, near Mt. Carmel and the present-day Haifa, Israel.

 "God created one earth and one mankind to people it.  Man has no other
habitation, but man himself has come forth and proclaimed imaginary
boundary lines and territorial restrictions, naming them Germany,
France, Russia, etc.  And torrents of precious blood are spilled in
defense of these imaginary divisions of our one human habitation, under
the delusion of a fancied and limited patriotism.

 After all, a claim and title to territory or native lands is but a
claim and attachment to the dust of earth. We live upon this earth for a
few days then rest beneath it forever.  So it is our graveyard
eternally.  Shall man fight for the tomb which devours him, for his
eternal sepulcher?  What ignorance could be greater than this?  To fight
over his grave, to kill another for his grave!  What heedlessness!  What
a delusion!

 And the breeding ground for all of these tragedies is prejudice:
prejudice of race and nation, of religion, of political opinion; and the
root cause of prejudice is blind imitation of the past--imitation in
religion, in racial attitudes, in national bias, in politics.  So long
as this aping of the past persisteth, just so long will the foundations
of the social order be blown to the four winds, just so long will
humanity be continually exposed to direst peril."

 "The Great Being, wishing to reveal the prerequisites of the peace and
tranquility of the world and the advancement of its peoples, hath
written: The time must come when the imperative necessity for the
holding of a vast, an all-embracing assemblage of men will be
universally realized.  The rulers and kings of the earth must needs
attend it, and, participating in its deliberations, must consider such
ways and means as will lay the foundations of the world's Great Peace
amongst men.  Such a peace demandeth that the Great Powers should
resolve, for the sake of the tranquility of the peoples of the earth, to
be fully reconciled among themselves.  Should any king take up arms
against another, all should unitedly rise and prevent him.  If this
be done, the nations of the worlds will no longer require any armaments,
except for the purpose of preserving the security of their realms and of
maintaining internal order within their territories.  This will ensure
the peace and composure of every people, government and nation.  We fain
would hope that the kings and rulers of the earth, the mirrors of the
gracious and almighty name of God, may attain unto this station, and
shield mankind from the onslaught of tyranny..."

The Seven Candles of Unity

 "In cycles gone by, though harmony was established, yet, owing to the
absence of means, the unity of all mankind could not have been achieved,
Continents remained widely divided, nay even among the peoples of one
and the same continent association and interchange of thought were well-
nigh impossible.  Consequently, intercourse, understanding and unity
amongst all of the peoples and kindreds of the earth were unattainable.
In this day, however, means of communication have mulitplied, and the fi
ve continents of the earth have virtually mearged into one.  And for
everyone it is now easy to travel to any land, to associate and exchange
views with its peoples, and to become familiar, throught publications,
with the condiditons, the religious beliefs and the thoughts of all men.
In like manner all the members of the human family, whether peoples or
governments, cities or villages, have become increasingly
interdependent.  For none is self-sufficiency any longer possible,
inasmuch as political ties unite all peoples and nations, and the bonds
of trade and industry, of agriculture and education, are being
strengthened every day.  Hence the unity of all mankind can in this day
be achieved.  Verily, this is none other but one of the wonders of this
wondrous age, this glorious century.  Of this, past ages have been
deprived, for this century--the century of light--hath been endowed with
unique and unprecedented glory, power and illumination.  Hence the
miraculous unfolding of a fresh marvel every day.  Eventually, it will
be seen how bright its candles will burn in the assemblage of man.

 Behold how its light is now dawning upon the world's darkened horizon.
The first candle is unity in the political realm, the early glimmerings
of which can now be discerned.  The second candle is unity of thought in
world undertakings, the consummation of which will erelong be witnessed.
The third candle is unity in freedom, which will surely come to pass.
The fourth candle is unity in religion, which is the cornerstone of the
foundation itself, and which, by the power of God, will be reveal
ed in all its splendor.  The fifth candle is the unity of nations--a
unity which in this century will be securely established, causing all
the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of common
fatherland.  The sixth candle is unity of races, making all that dwell
on earth peoples and kindreds of one race.  The seventh candle is unity
of language,  the choice of a universal tongue in which all peoples will
be instructed and converse.  Each and every one of these will inevitably
come to pass, inasmuch as the power of the kingdom of God will aid and
assist in their realization."

 "O kings of the earth!  We see you increasing every year your
expenditures, and laying the burdon therof on your subjects.  This
verily, is wholly and grossly unjust.  Fear the sighs and tears of this
Wronged One, and lay not excessive burdons on your peoples.  Do not rob
them to rear palaces for yourselves; nay rather choose for them that
which ye choose for yourselves.  Thus We unfold to your eyes that which
profiteth you, if ye but perceive.  Your people are your treasures.
Beware lest your rule violate the commandments of God, and ye deliver
your wards to the hands of the robber.  By them ye rule, by their means
ye subsist, by their aid ye conquer. Yet, how disdainfully ye look upon
them.  How strange, how very strange!

 O rulers of the earth!  Be reconciled among yourselves, that ye may
need no more armaments save in a measure to safeguard your territories
and dominions. Beware lest ye disregard the counsel of the All-Knowing,
the Faithful.

 Be united, O kings of the earth, for thereby will the tempest of
discord be stilled amongst you, and your peoples find rest, if ye be of
them that comprehend.  Should any one among you take up arms against
another, rise ye all against him, for this is naught but manifest
justice."

 "O ye the elected representatives of the people of every land!  Take ye
counsel together, and let your concern be only for that which profiteth
mankind, and bettereth the condition thereof, if ye be of them that scan
heedfully.  Regard the world as the human body which, though at its
creation whole and perfect, hath been afflicted, through various causes,
with grave disorders and maladies.  Not for one day did it gain ease,
nay its sickness waxed more severe, as it fell under the treatment of i
gnorant physicians, who gave full rein to their personal desires, and
have erred grievously.  And if, at one time, through the care of an able
physician, a member of that body was healed, the rest remained afflicted
as before. Thus informeth you the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

 We behold it, in this day, at the mercy of rulers so drunk with pride
that they cannot discern clearly their own best advantage, much less
recognize a Revelation so bewildering and challenging as this.  And
whenever any one of them hath striven to improve its condition, his
motive hath been his own gain, whether confessedly so or not; and the
unworthiness of this motive hath limited his power to heal or cure."

 "Note thou: Could these fevers in the world of the mind, these fires of
war and hate, of resentment and malice among the nations, this
aggression of peoples against peoples, which have destroyed the
tranquility of the whole world, ever be made to abate, except through
the living waters of the teachings of God?  No, never!

 And this is clear: A power above and beyond the powers of nature must
needs be brought to bear, to change this black darkness into light, and
these hatreds and resentments, grudges and spites, these endless
wrangles and wars, into fellowship and love amongst all the peoples of
the earth.  This power is none other than the breathings of the Holy
Spirit and the mighty inflow of the Word of God."

 "That all nations should become one in faith and all men as brothers;
that the bonds of affection and unity between the sons of men should be
strengthened; that diversity of religions should cease, and differences
of race be annulled--what harm is there in this?  Yet so shall it be;
these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away, and the
Most Great Peace shall come...Let not a man glory in this, that he loves
his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind."







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