DID YOU KNOW?
As per Abdu’l
Baha, being a Baha’i means to love and serve all humanity.
When asked on one
occasion: “What is a Baha’i?” Abdu’l Baha replied: “To be a Baha’i simply means
to love all the world; to love humanity and try to serve it; to work for
universal peace and universal brotherhood.”
On another
occasion He defined a Baha’i as “one endowed with all the perfections of man in
activity.” In one of His London talks He said that a man may be a Baha’i even
if He has never heard the name of Baha’u’llah. He added:—
The man who lives
the life according to the teachings of Baha’u’llah is already a Baha’i. On the
other hand, a man may call himself a Baha’i for fifty years, and if he does not
live the life he is not a Baha’i. An ugly man may call himself handsome, but he
deceives no one, and a black man may call himself white, yet he deceives no
one, not even himself.
One who does not
know God’s Messengers, however, is like a plant growing in the shade. Although
it knows not the sun, it is, nevertheless, absolutely dependent on it. The
great Prophets are spiritual suns, and Baha’u’llah is the sun of this “day” in
which we live. The suns of former days have warmed and vivified the world, and
had those suns not shone, the earth would not be cold and dead, but it is the
sunshine of today that alone can ripen the fruits which the suns of former days
have kissed into life.
In order to
attain to the Baha’i life in all its fullness, conscious and direct relations
with Baha’u’llah are as necessary as is sunshine for the unfolding of the lily
or the rose. The Baha’i worships not the human personality of Baha’u’llah, but
the Glory of God manifest through that personality. He reverences Christ and Muḥammad
and all God’s former Messengers to mankind, but he recognizes Baha’u’llah as
the bearer of God’s Message for the new age in which we live, as the Great
World teacher Who has come to carry on and consummate the work of His
predecessors.
Intellectual
assent to a creed does not make a man a Baha’i, nor does outward rectitude of
conduct. Baha’u’llah requires of His followers wholehearted and complete
devotion. God alone has the right to make such a demand, but Baha’u’llah speaks
as the Manifestation of God, and the Revealer of His Will.
(Extract from
Baha’u’llah and the New Era)
This article was our small contribution to the Caravan Magazine. It was added under the Did you know? section, at the end of the magazine. Do share your views on this.
This article was our small contribution to the Caravan Magazine. It was added under the Did you know? section, at the end of the magazine. Do share your views on this.
