So this isn't something I'd normally waste time making a thread over, but I can't seem to find the exact wording of a quote and it's driving me crazy.
The context was someone (who I think was either Abdu'l-Bahá or Shoghi Effendi) responding to the centrality of Faith in the Bahá'í Faith. He clarified that we weren't a cult, social movement, or simple religion, but we're the "Bahá'í Faith." We had Faith, and that made us a Faith.
If anyone can provide me a quote that even remotely resembles the above, I'd greatly appreciate it. I've tried looking in the Bahá'í Reference library, as well as a few blogs that I thought I might've read it on, but to no avail. I'm currently on a work computer, so I don't have access to Ocean at the moment, but I'm going to try that when I return home.
Thanks in advance for any suggestions or potential sources you can provide!
However men try to reach me, I return their love with my love; whatever path they may travel, it leads to me in the end - Bhagavad Gita 4:11
"Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth" - The Four Valleys; Hadith
I remember hearing this, but I can't recall the exact wording. which makes locating it very difficult. when I searched on "Baha'i not merely", I found several things:
One of the unique features of this new age of maturity in humanity's development, however, is that this new civilization is not merely a by-product of a relative adherence to the principles and teachings of the Founder of the faith. Rather, it will be a conscious process in which individuals endowed with a new understanding and new vision will work consciously to implement the principles and teachings into new patterns of action that will produce its eventual fruit. Thus, Bahá'u'lláh exhorts: "It is incumbent upon every man of insight and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written into reality and action."
will have to keep searching.
it's entirely possible I heard the quote in question while deepening on the LDS guidelines. I forgot my login and password for National or I'd download the PDF to search it.
this is one time where searching Ocean would produce to much results to be useful.
how does that feel to be a lawnmower man? must be a real rush.
I think we have to be prudent in what we say, how we say it and to whom? Christ warned his followers about that: "Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you." (King James Bible, Matthew)
Baha'u'llah advises in a similar fashion:
"O SON OF DUST! The wise are they that speak not unless they obtain a hearing, even as the cup-bearer, who proffereth not his cup till he findeth a seeker, and the lover who crieth not out from the depths of his heart until he gazeth upon the beauty of his beloved. Wherefore sow the seeds of wisdom and knowledge in the pure soil of the heart, and keep them hidden, till the hyacinths of divine wisdom spring from the heart and not from mire and clay...." (Baha'u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words #36)
"O My Name! Utterance must needs possess penetrating power. For if bereft of this quality it would fail to exert influence. And this penetrating influence dependeth on the spirit being pure and the heart stainless. Likewise it needeth moderation, without which the hearer would be unable to bear it, rather he would manifest opposition from the very outset. And moderation will be obtained by blending utterance with the tokens of divine wisdom which are recorded in the sacred Books and Tablets. Thus when the essence of one's utterance is endowed with these two requisites it will prove highly effective and will be the prime factor in transforming the souls of men. This is the station of supreme victory and celestial dominion. Whoso attaineth thereto is invested with the power to teach the Cause of God and to prevail over the hearts and minds of men." (Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 198)
"Beware lest ye contend with any one, nay, strive to make him aware of the truth with kindly manner and most convincing exhortation. If your hearer respond, he will have responded to his own behoof, and if not, turn ye away from him, and set your faces towards God's sacred Court, the seat of resplendent holiness.
Dispute not with any one concerning the things of this world and its affairs, for God hath abandoned them to such as have set their affection upon them. Out of the whole world He hath chosen for Himself the hearts of men -- hearts which the hosts of revelation and of utterance can subdue. Thus hath it been ordained by the Fingers of Baha, upon the Tablet of God's irrevocable decree, by the behest of Him Who is the Supreme Ordainer, the All-Knowing." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 278)
If that person becomes a "seeker" and comes to recognize and believe that Baha'u'llah is a Manifestation of God, s/he will he know that the Baha'i Faith is a true faith and not some sort of "social movement."
the Baha'i Faith is not a mere social movement
it is the Will of Him whom the sum total of creation can never thwart.
how does that feel to be a lawnmower man? must be a real rush.
He (the Guardian) urges you to encourage the friends (in Japan) to observe our Bahá'í laws and ordinances, deepen themselves in the administration, and realize they are followers of a Faith -- not a mere movement.
(Compilations, Japan Will Turn Ablaze, p. 105)
that's the best I'm going to be able to come up with.
how does that feel to be a lawnmower man? must be a real rush.
He (the Guardian) urges you to encourage the friends (in Japan) to observe our Bahá'í laws and ordinances, deepen themselves in the administration, and realize they are followers of a Faith -- not a mere movement.
(Compilations, Japan Will Turn Ablaze, p. 105)
that's the best I'm going to be able to come up with.
Thanks Aka_Me! That's actually good enough to fit what I was ooking for. While I will continue to look for the actual quote on my mind, this is definitly along the lines of what I was looking for.
However men try to reach me, I return their love with my love; whatever path they may travel, it leads to me in the end - Bhagavad Gita 4:11
"Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth" - The Four Valleys; Hadith
Maybe you were looking for this following passage from Shoghi Effendi (The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 196)?
"Ceasing to designate itself a movement, a fellowship and the like -- designations that did grave injustice to its ever-unfolding system -- dissociating itself from such appellations as Bábí sect, Asiatic cult, and offshoot of Shi'ih Islam, with which the ignorant and the malicious were wont to describe it, refusing to be labeled as a mere philosophy of life, or as an eclectic code of ethical conduct, or even as a new religion, the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh is now visibly succeeding in demonstrating its claim and title to be regarded as a World Religion, destined to attain, in the fullness of time, the status of a world-embracing Commonwealth, which would be at once the instrument and the guardian of the Most Great Peace announced by its Author. Far from wishing to add to the number of the religious systems, whose conflicting loyalties have for so many generations disturbed the peace of mankind, this Faith is instilling into each of its adherents a new love for, and a genuine appreciation of the unity underlying, the various religions represented within its pale."
Best,
LilWabbit
"The whole universe is but a handful of clay in His grasp."
Maybe you were looking for this following passage from Shoghi Effendi (The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, p. 196)?
"Ceasing to designate to itself a movement, a fellowship and the like -- designations that did grave injustice to its ever-unfolding system -- dissociating itself from such appellations as Bábí sect, Asiatic cult, and offshoot of Shi'ih Islam, with which the ignorant and the malicious were wont to describe it, refusing to be labeled as a mere philosophy of life, or as an eclectic code of ethical conduct, or even as a new religion, the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh is now visibly succeeding in demonstrating its claim and title to be regarded as a World Religion, destined to attain, in the fullness of time, the status of a world-embracing Commonwealth, which would be at once the instrument and the guardian of the Most Great Peace announced by its Author. Far from wishing to add to the number of the religious systems, whose conflicting loyalties have for so many generations disturbed the peace of mankind, this Faith is instilling into each of its adherents a new love for, and a genuine appreciation of the unity underlying, the various religions represented within its pale."
Best,
LilWabbit
thank you!
that was too vague in my memory to remember where it exists.
in my opinion this is worth memorizing because it so succintly describes why we're not talking about just one more "set of ideas" in a world full of differing ideas.
1. the vision is beyond that of any human being.
2. combined with a description for real world implementation.
3. factoring in humanity's free will and not forcing anything (as in the case of a white horse galloping across the sky and humans flying up to meet Him in a rapture).
anyone who puts enough cognizance into comprehending the scope of what it is...
can only conclude it is The Will of God.
how does that feel to be a lawnmower man? must be a real rush.
