"There is nothing so heart-breaking and terrible as an outburst of human savagery!

"I charge you all that each one of you concentrate all the thoughts of your heart on love and unity. When a thought of war comes, oppose it by a stronger thought of peace. A thought of hatred must be destroyed by a more powerful thought of love. Thoughts of war bring destruction to all harmony, well-being, restfulness and content.

"Thoughts of love are constructive of brotherhood, peace, friendship, and happiness.

"When soldiers of the world draw their swords to kill, soldiers of God clasp each other’s hands! So may all the savagery of man disappear by the Mercy of God, working through the pure in heart and the sincere of soul. Do not think the peace of the world an ideal impossible to attain!

"Nothing is impossible to the Divine Benevolence of God.

"If you desire with all your heart, friendship with every race on earth, your thought, spiritual and positive, will spread; it will become the desire of others, growing stronger and stronger, until it reaches the minds of all men.

"Do not despair! Work steadily. Sincerity and love will conquer hate. How many seemingly impossible events are coming to pass in these days! Set your faces steadily towards the Light of the World. Show love to all; ‘Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit in the heart of Man’. Take courage! God never forsakes His children who strive and work and pray! Let your hearts be filled with the strenuous desire that tranquillity and harmony may encircle all this warring world. So will success crown your efforts, and with the universal brotherhood will come the Kingdom of God in peace and goodwill."

- Paris Talks: Addresses Given by `Abdu'l-Bahá in 1911

#Bahai #ParisTalks #AbdulBaha #Peace #War

"O thou dear handmaid of God! Thy letter hath been received, and its contents were noted.

"Marriage, among the mass of the people, is a physical bond, and this union can only be temporary, since it is foredoomed to a physical separation at the close.

"Among the people of Bahá, however, marriage must be a union of the body and of the spirit as well, for here both husband and wife are aglow with the same wine, both are enamoured of the same matchless Face, both live and move through the same spirit, both are illumined by the same glory. This connection between them is a spiritual one, hence it is a bond that will abide forever. Likewise do they enjoy strong and lasting ties in the physical world as well, for if the marriage is based both on the spirit and the body, that union is a true one, hence it will endure. If, however, the bond is physical and nothing more, it is sure to be only temporary, and must inexorably end in separation.

"When, therefore, the people of Bahá undertake to marry, the union must be a true relationship, a spiritual coming together as well as a physical one, so that throughout every phase of life, and in all the worlds of God, their union will endure; for this real oneness is a gleaming out of the love of God.

"In the same way, when any souls grow to be true believers, they will attain a spiritual relationship with one another, and show forth a tenderness which is not of this world. They will, all of them, become elated from a draught of divine love, and that union of theirs, that connection, will also abide forever. Souls, that is, who will consign their own selves to oblivion, strip from themselves the defects of humankind, and unchain themselves from human bondage, will beyond any doubt be illumined with the heavenly splendours of oneness, and will all attain unto real union in the world that dieth not."

- Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá

https://www.bahai.org/r/137146090

#Marriage #Bahai #AbdulBaha #Religion #Love

"Convey on behalf of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá to thy respected wife my Abhá greetings, and say: ‘Kindness, training and education extended to prisoners is exceedingly important. Therefore as thou hast exerted an effort in this, hast awakened some of them, and hast been the cause of the turning of their faces to the divine Kingdom, this praiseworthy deed is highly acceptable. Assuredly persevere. Convey on my behalf to the two prisoners in San Quentin the utmost kindness, and tell them: ‘That prison in the sight of wise souls is a school of training and development. Ye must strive with heart and soul that ye may become renowned in character and knowledge.’"

- Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá

https://www.bahai.org/r/980633044

#AbdulBaha #Bahai #Prison #Education

In celebration of the Day of the Covenant https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERFM8IrV2SQ

#Bahai #AbdulBaha #Religion

"O respected personage! I have read your work, The Gospel of Wealth, and noted therein truly apposite and sound recommendations for easing the lot of humankind.

"To state the matter briefly, the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh advocate voluntary sharing, and this is a greater thing than the equalization of wealth. For equalization must be imposed from without, while sharing is a matter of free choice.

"Man reacheth perfection through good deeds, voluntarily performed, not through good deeds the doing of which was forced upon him. And sharing is a personally chosen righteous act: that is, the rich should extend assistance to the poor, they should expend their substance for the poor, but of their own free will, and not because the poor have gained this end by force. For the harvest of force is turmoil and the ruin of the social order. On the other hand voluntary sharing, the freely-chosen expending of one’s substance, leadeth to society’s comfort and peace. It lighteth up the world; it bestoweth honour upon humankind.

"I have seen the good effects of your own philanthropy in America, in various universities, peace gatherings, and associations for the promotion of learning, as I travelled from city to city. Wherefore do I pray on your behalf that you shall ever be encompassed by the bounties and blessings of heaven, and shall perform many philanthropic deeds in East and West. Thus may you gleam as a lighted taper in the Kingdom of God, may attain honour and everlasting life, and shine out as a bright star on the horizon of eternity."

https://www.bahai.org/r/216276521

#Bahai #AbdulBaha #AndrewCarnegie #Charity

"Progresado de #Animo

"«Ĉu animo progresas pli per malĝojoj, ĉu per ĝojoj en tiu ĉi mondo?»

"`Abdu'l-Bahá: - La menso kaj la spirito de homo progresas, kiam li estas provata per #suferoj. Ju pli plugata estas la grundo, des pli bona estos la rikolto. Kiel plugilo profunde sulkigas la teron, purigante ĝin de malbonherboj kaj kardoj, tiel suferoj kaj malĝojoj liberigas homon de malgravaĵoj de tiu ĉi monda vivo, ĝis li atingas staton de kompleta sindeturnemo. Lia sinteno en tiu ĉi mondo estos tiu de dia #feliĉo. Homo estas, por tiel diri, nematura: la varmego de l’fajro de suferoj maturigas lin. Rigardu malantaŭen en la pasintajn tempojn, kaj vi vidos, ke la plej grandaj el la homoj suferis plej multe.

"«Ĉu tiu, kiu per suferoj atingis maturiĝon, timu feliĉon?»

"`Abdu'l-Bahá: - Per suferoj li atingos la eternan feliĉecon, kiun nenio povas forpreni de li. La apostoloj de Kristo suferis: ili atingis la eternan feliĉecon.

"«Ĉu estas do neeble atingi feliĉon sen suferoj?»

"`Abdu'l-Bahá: - Por atingi la eternan feliĉon, oni devas suferi. Kiu atingis la staton de sinofero, havas veran ĝojon. Tempa ĝojo pereos.

"«Ĉu transmondiĝinta animo povas interparoli kun iu, estanta ankoraŭ sur la tero?»

"`Abdu'l-Bahá: - Oni povas interparoli, sed tiu interparolo ne estas simila al la nia. Estas nenia dubo, ke la fortoj de la pli altaj mondoj kunagas kun la fortoj de tiu ĉi. La koro de homo estas malfermita al inspiroj; tio ĉi estas la spirita interkomunikiĝado. Kiel en sonĝo oni parolas kun amiko, dum la buŝo silentas, tiel same estas en la spirita interparolo. Homo povas paroli kun sia interna memo, dirante: «Ĉu mi povas fari tion? Ĉu estas por mi konsilinde fari tiun ĉi laboron?» Tiaspeca interparolo estas kun la pli alta memo."

#Bahai #AbdulBaha #Esperanto

http://www.bahaaeligo.bahai.de/U-tekstoj/ppab-121226-U.htm

"The Progress of the #Soul

"‘Does the soul progress more through sorrow or through the joy in this world?’

"‘Abdu’l-Bahá.— ‘The mind and spirit of man advance when he is tried by #suffering. The more the ground is ploughed the better the seed will grow, the better the harvest will be. Just as the plough furrows the earth deeply, purifying it of weeds and thistles, so suffering and tribulation free man from the petty affairs of this worldly life until he arrives at a state of complete detachment. His attitude in this world will be that of divine #happiness. Man is, so to speak, unripe: the heat of the fire of suffering will mature him. Look back to the times past and you will find that the greatest men have suffered most.’

"‘He who through suffering has attained development, should he fear happiness?’

"‘Abdu’l-Bahá.— ‘Through suffering he will attain to an eternal happiness which nothing can take from him. The apostles of Christ suffered: they attained eternal happiness.’

"‘Then it is impossible to attain happiness without suffering?’

"‘Abdu’l-Bahá.— ‘To attain eternal happiness one must suffer. He who has reached the state of self-sacrifice has true joy. Temporal joy will vanish.’

"‘Can a departed soul converse with someone still on earth?’

"‘Abdu’l-Bahá.— ‘A conversation can be held, but not as our conversation. There is no doubt that the forces of the higher worlds interplay with the forces of this plane. The heart of man is open to inspiration; this is spiritual communication. As in a dream one talks with a friend while the mouth is silent, so is it in the conversation of the spirit. A man may converse with the ego within him saying: “May I do this? Would it be advisable for me to do this work?” Such as this is conversation with the higher self.’"

https://www.bahai.org/r/431615557

#Bahai #Religion #AbdulBaha

"O thou who hast an illumined heart! Thou art even as the pupil of the eye, the very wellspring of the light, for God’s love hath cast its rays upon thine inmost being and thou hast turned thy face toward the Kingdom of thy Lord.

"Intense is the hatred, in America, between black and white, but my hope is that the power of the Kingdom will bind these two in friendship, and serve them as a healing balm.

"Let them look not upon a man’s colour but upon his heart. If the heart be filled with light, that man is nigh unto the threshold of his Lord; but if not, that man is careless of his Lord, be he white or be he black."

https://www.bahai.org/r/264394289

#Bahai #AbdulBaha #UnityOfMan

RT @bahai_teachings - One must see in every human being only that which is worthy of praise. When this is done, one can be a friend to the whole human race. If, however, we look at people from the standpoint of their faults, then being a friend to them is a formidable task. - #AbdulBaha
#bahai​