The Bahai movement for universal religion

THE
BAHAI MOVEMENT

C. M. R.

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THE BAHAI
MOVEMENT

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The Baha! Movement

FOR UNIVERSAL RELIGION
BROTHERHOOD

A Sketch of its History and Teaching

CHARLES MASON REMEY

PUBLISHED BY THE

Persian American Bulletin

Washington , D. C.

March. 1912

FOREWORD.

As Abdul-Baha, the leader of the Bahai Movement,
has expressed his intention of visiting America in the
near future, it has seemed advisable to publish this
resume of the history and teaching of the movement
in order that those who desire knowledge upon the
subject may find it in a brief and concise form.

ABDUL BAH A

THE BAHAI MOVEMENT.

Object.

The object of the Bahai Movement is the establish-
ment of the universal religion which will be the
foundation of inter-religious, inter-racial and inter-
national brotherhood and peace. It offers to man-
kind a practical basis of unity, one which is in direct
line with the great world needs of this age. It is
paving the way for the great universal civilization
which will evolve as people of all religions, races and
nations unite both s])iritually and materially into one
world people.

The Bab.

This movement began in Persia almost seventy
years ago (1844). with the I'ise of a teacher known as
The Bab. who proclaimed the coming of a greater
teacher whose mission would be that of establishing
the universal Religion, the Brotherhood of Man and
universal Peace. The Bab was but the forerunner
of this greater teacher who was to come, and to this
promised one and to his cause The Bab and thousands
of his followers testified by suffering and martyrdom
inflicted upon them by the Moslems upon the charge
of heresy.

Baha'o'llah.

Shortly after the martyrdom of The Bab the great
teacher who was promised appeared in the person of
Baha'o'llah. from whom the movement now takes its
name. His mission lasted forty years, during which
time he was subjected to all manner of imprisonment
and suffering at the hands of Oriental despots be-
cause of his teaching which brought freedom of
thought and enlightenment to all people who heard
it. Baha'o'llah was sent in exile and a prisoner from
one Moslem country to another until he finally was
lodged in the Turkish penal colony of Akka in Syria
where, after having given his great teaching to
humanity, he passed naturally from this world in the
vear 1892.

•Abdul-Baha.

Abdul-Baha, the son of Baha'o'llah, was the one
chosen by his father to further establish this great
movement and to explain and demonstrate it before
the Avorld.

He was constantly at his father's side during the
exile and imprisonment of the latter, and was in
every way Baha'o'llah's chief disciple. For forty
years Abdul-Baha was a prisoner in the fortress of
Akka — held there by the Sultan of Turkey for no
other reason than that his teaching was bringing
enlightenment and freedom of thought to all who
came within the radius of its power. With the fall of
the old despotic regime of Turkish government and
the establishment of the present constitutional rule,
which occurred in the summer of 1908, he was liber-
ated from prison, and now is free to come and go
as he wills. During the past summer and fall (1911)
he visited England and France, where he spent some
months in teaching; and now he is expected shortly
in America, where he has many friends who will wel-
come him.

Abdul-Baha wishes to be known as the servant of
humanity. He seeks no higher station than this, yet
when one understands all that this means one
realizes the combination of humility and exaltation
which it implies.

He has a wonderful personality. He has the
power of really penetrating the souls of men, of
understanding the needs of each individual soul, and
of ministering to them in the most beneficial manner.
He is the spiritual physician who is treating hu-
manity.

Many beautiful and touching incidents are related
In the East of the way in which, through long suffer-
ing and kindness, he has won the hearts of those
who, because of their prejudices, formerly were his

• The Bab (meaning the door or gate), Baha'o'llah
(meaning the glory of God) and Abdul-Baha (mean-
ing the servant of God), are titles which have been
applied to these teachers and by which they are now
known.

enemies. Caring for the sick and protecting the
oppressed form a large part of his daily duties. One
of the titles applied to him in the Orient is "father
of the poor."

Abdul-Baha's power is that of love. In going into
his presence something within one's soul seems to
respond to his soul. Thus a spiritual bond is made
wnich is most far-reaching, for it is of the nature
of divine love and always remains with one.
Through his life and example, he is teaching people
the life and the way of The Kingdom. He has a
message for every one, and as one meets and con-
tacts with him in spirit it is as if a new force were
added to one's nature. The power of the love of
God is brought very close to those who come in
contact with Abdul-Baha.

TRUTH.

The Bahai philosophy is simplicity itself. It is
expressed in this short quotation from one of
Baha'o'llah writings, *'The root of all knowledge is
the knowledge of God." Each of the world's great
spiritual teachers has taught the same eternal Truth,
revealing it in the measure and in terms applicable
to the people of his time. This Truth has ever been
the main spring and source of human advancement
and civilization.

RELATION OF THE BAHAI MOVEMENT TO THE
RELIGIONS OF THE PAST.

The people of each religion look for the coming of
a prophet or teacher who will fulfill the hopes of their
own teaching and establish the truth in the world.
The Christians look for the coming of the Christ
(spirit), and the establishment of Christ's Kingdom;
the Jews await the coming of their Messiah, and (iod's
Kingdom on earth; the Moslems believe thai the
Mahdi will come and prepare the way for the coming
of the Lord and The Kingdom; the Zoroastrians have
prophecies relating to the coming of Shah Bahrain,
and the establishment of the divine order of things,

all of which are foretold in their holy books; the
Hindus believe that the divine spirit Krishna will
speak again to the world for the enlightenment of
the people; and the Buddhists looks for the coming
of the great Fifth Buddha whose mission will be that
of bringing a general world-wide spiritual enlighten-
ment. Now in the coming of the Bahai teachers,
and the movement which they have established, the
people of the various religions find the fulfillment of
the sacred teachings of the past, and also the solution
of the great latter day problem of religious Unity.
The Bahai teaching confirms and completes all reli-
gious teachings which have gone before, and offers a
practical philosophy which meets the present day
spiritual needs of humanity.

The Bahai Writings.

The collective writings of the Bab are known as
The Beyan. These treat chiefly of the coming of
Baha'o'llah. containing exhortations to the people
calling them to purify themselves and prepare to
meet the promised one that they might be fitted
to serve him.

Baha'o'llah wrote many treatises in the form of
books and epistles, in which he demonstrates the
oneness of the spirit of all of the former religious
teachings; also treating of the present teaching in its
relations to the religions of the past. Many of these
writings were in reply to special questions asked by
men of learning and were therefore written from
various points of thought, Moslem. .Jewish, Christian,
etc.

The writings of Abdul-Baha are explanatory of the
teachings of Baha'o'llah. In Abdul-Baha's life of
service is his method of teaching rather than by his
pen.

SOCIAL REFORMS, LAWS AND ORDINANCES.

In addition to the purely spiritual teachings of
Baha'o'llah he ordered certain changes in the man-
ners and customs of people, through the observance
of which the world in general will l)e helped both

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materially and spiritually. He advises the Bahais to
l)e tolerant, and in no way to separate themselves
from other people, nor denounce those of other be-
liefs. All men are free to believe as they wish, but
all are exhorted to unite in faith and to lay aside the
prejudices and superstitions of past ages. Warfare
should be abolished and international questions
settled by arbitration. A universal language is fav-
ored as a means of bringing people together in unity.
Legislation should l)e representative. The Bahais
should be peaceful and law-abiding citizens. Their
thought should be humanitarian before all else.
Faith without works is not acceptable. One's wor-
ship should be supplemented by a pure and useful
life in the world. Men and women should marry.
Asceticism is discouraged. Monogamy is taught.
Harshness and hatred are to be overcome by gentle-
ness and love. Man should not use intoxicants as a
beverage. Opium and kindred drug habits are de-
nounced, as is also gambling.

The business affairs of the Bahai Movement are
conducted by assemblies of consultation. Eventually
there will be a general assembly of consultation com-
posed of representatives from all parts of the world.
This will be known as "'The Universal House of
.Justice."

Baha'o'llah forbade mendicity, slavery, cruelty to
animals and many other abuses which our western
civilization has already remedied, so it is hardly nec-
essary here to mention them. The following of these
ordinances is already producing its good effect in
the many Bahai centers throughout the world, and
good fruits are coming therefrom.

Mashrak-EI-Azkar.

In this cause there is no priesthood nor clergy.
Each soul approaches God in prayer without sacred
rite nor ceremony. Temples open to all people of all
religions are to be provided for reading, meditation
and prayer. These are to be surrounded by hospices.

hospitals, asylums, schools, universities, etc., the
whole group of buildings to be known as a "Mashrak
El-Azkar" which literally means "The dawning point
of the mentions of God." In these institutions is
symbolized both the spiritual worship and the
humanitarian service as taught by Baha'o'Uan.

Xot long since in the city of Echkabad in Russian
TurKistan a Mashrak-El-Azkar was built. At present
the Bahais throughout the world are uniting in the
work of building the first Mashrak-El-Azkar in
America, which is to be erected near the city of
Chicago.

The Need of the Times.

In this day the creeds and the dogmas of the past
have lost their spiritual power, and the world is
reaching out for a religion which will be a living
spiritual factor in the life of humanity. This demand
is being supplied by the Bahai movement. This is a
cause the institutions of which are not founded upon
the popular thought of the day, but rather being
above and beyond the natural trend of human thought
they are leading and forming within the souls of
men higher ideals, thought and actions, and are the
beginning of a higher and a greater civilization than
the world has ever seen.

Oriental-Occidental Unity.

One of the greatest obstacles to overcome before
universal Brotherhood and Peace can come is the
natural lack of confidence and understanding between
the Oriental and Occidental peoples. The Orient has
been the source of the world's inspiration, while in
the Occident has appeared the fruition of this in-
spiration in the form of a highly evolved civilization.
Through the Bahai teachings this chasm between the
East and the West is bridged, and for the first time
in history Oriental and Occidental are meeting on a
common ground of sympathy, understanding and
brotherhood.

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Peace.

Religious differences have been the chief cause of
warfare, while religious sympathy and understanding
have always made for peace and prosperity. Prior to
the beginning of the Bahai Movement, nothing was
being taught nor written about Peace, Arbitration,
universal Language, Suffrage nor any other universal
institution. During the past half century, however,
the world has awakened to the necessity for all of
these institutions, and now the most enlightened
people are realizing that the lack of spiritual or re-
ligious understanding, with the accompanying lack
of moral perception, is the real cause of all human
ills. While Baha'o'llah's teaching was ahead of the
world of his day, the world of today is realizing the
value of that teaching. The supply and the demand
are now meeting, from which harmony and peace
will result.

Science and Religion.

The imaginations and superstitions of the religious
systems of the past, are against common sense and
science, for these are but the thoughts of men of past
ages. The Universal basic spiritual truths of the
many religions are, upon the contrary, most scientific.
When men understand the true principles of religion
no conflict will be found between them and the
material sciences.

Education.

Through a broad and liberal education along
material lines, balanced by a knowledge of man's
moral and spiritual duties, the Bahais believe that
the superstitions of the past will disappear and with
them the prejudice and ignorance which have always
made for man's limitation. The Bahai Movement
stands strongly for the freedom and education of
woman, even going so far as to teach that it is more
necessary for parents to educate their girls, than
their boys. Women being the mothers and the chief
teachers of the race, it is more necessary that they
be educated than men.

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Economic Questions.

Cooperation is the basic principle upon which all
institutions should be founded. The cooperation of
■all for the good of all. Laws should be so regulated
that it will be impossible for one man to enrich him-
self at the expense of another. Through the proper
adjustment of political and commercial relations be-
tween individuals and nations all will live in har-
mony, happiness and in plenty.

Evolution of Man.

According- to the Bahai teaching spirit or life force
Is of five kinds: Vegetable, animal, human, the
divinely spiritual life of the soul, and the Infinite
uuKUowable spirit of God. Man was created man,
a species apart and above the vegetable and animal
conditions. Through the spiritual influences of the
prophets man becomes characterized by the divinely
spiritual qualities, and adds to his human nature the
spiritual nature.

Growth of the Movement.

The movement under The Rab was practically con-
fined to the Islamic countries. During the ministry
of Baha'o'llah the message was taken to various
other countries of the Orient and now has spread ■
the world around. There are not only centers of
Bahai teaching in China, .Japan, Burma, India, Persia.
Turkistan, Caucasia, the Turkish countries and in
Egy])t, but there are strong Bahai centers in France,
uerm.any, England and througnout the United States
and Canada. This growth has been a comparatively
slow one. It is not limited by religious nor racial
conditions, which is proven by the many heterogene-
ous elements which this cause is assimilating and
fusing into one element, which is the world type of
man.

The Method of Teaching.

The teaching is given without money and without
price. Teachers are self supporting, giving their

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time and services, the recompense for which is the
joy and satisfaction of serving in the cause of Truth.
Teaching consists of first living the principles of the
cause in one's inner life and then speaking to others.
All are teachers each in his own sphere. The Bahais
in no way form a close sect or cult. They do not
separate themselves from other people. Their work
is ever out-ward and in the world where they are
diffusing spiritual knowledge and serving humanity.

Results.

The universal principles of Truth which the Bahai
Movement is teaching are already clearly seen in the
way in which this teaching appeals to people of all
religions, races, and nationalities. The moment that
a soul becomes touched by the Bahai Spirit he be-
comes a citizen of the world, quite freed from the
limitations of his former environment, while his
social and religious prejudices are changed into a
desire to do something toward world brotherhood
through tangible service to his fellow men. In the
Bahai Meetings— notably those in the East— one sees
Christians, .Tews. Moslems, Zoroastrians, Hindus and
Buddhists mingling as brothers and eating at the
same tables. It has been the writer's privilege to
travel extensively and to attend many such reunions.
He has spent much time in the Oriental countries
and has seen the spiritual blending of the Orient and
Occident, which process is being brought about by
the love and devotion of the Bahais one for another.
These people are really demonstrating the power of
divine love, for with them it is so powerful as to
overcome all religious and racial antipathy and is
producing real brotherhood and Peace.

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DATE DUE

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GAYLORD

PRINTED IN US. A.

Distributed by

Bahai Publishing Society

p. 0. Box 283, Chicago, Illinois

These books are sold at a price
just sufficient to cover the cost of
printing and handling.

The Mashrak-El-Azkar

Bv Chas. Mason Remev.

Comprising— Quotations from
Abdul Baha's words — An his-
torical sketch of the Bahai
Movement — A general explana-
tion of the Mashrak-El-Azkar
(Bahai Temple) — A description
of the Mashrak-El-Azkar in
Eshkhabad in Russian Turkistan
and — An account of the pre-
paratory^ work for building the
first Mashrak-E 1 - A z k a r in
America, with descriptions and
illustrations of an exhibit of
nine preliminary designs for
this building, showing various
treatments in different styles of
architecture.

This book contains a portrait
of Abdul Baha and nineteen
architectural illustrations.

A large volume, bound in cloth,
$1.00.

Postage — additional.

This book weighs 2 pounds. For
postage, see parcel post rate between
your town and Chicago.

BP375.R3B16

The Bahai movement for universal

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