Monday, October 31, 2016

Quote of the Day, 18 ‘Ilm 173 BE






“...let your heart burn with loving kindness for all who may cross your path.”

- Words attributed to Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks

Quote of the Day, 17 ‘Ilm 173 BE






"We entreat Our loved ones not to besmirch the hem of Our raiment with the dust of falsehood, neither to allow references to what they have regarded as miracles and prodigies to debase Our rank and station, or to mar the purity and sanctity of Our name."

- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Quote of the Day, 16 ‘Ilm 173 BE





"...the power of the Covenant will protect the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh from the doubts of the people of error. It is the fortified fortress of the Cause of God and the firm pillar of the religion of God. Today no power can conserve the oneness of the Bahá'í world save the Covenant of God; otherwise differences like unto a most great tempest will encompass the Bahá'í world. It is evident that the axis of the oneness of the world of humanity is the power of the Covenant and nothing else...."

- `Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of the Divine Plan

Quote of the Day, 15 ‘Ilm 173 BE





"Unto the Most Holy Book every one must turn and all that is not expressly recorded therein must be referred to the Universal House of Justice. That which this body, whether unanimously or by a majority doth carry, that is verily the Truth and the Purpose of God Himself."

- Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Bahá

Thursday, October 27, 2016

Quote of the Day, 14 ‘Ilm 173 BE







"Upon the Universal House of Justice, in the words of the Guardian, 'has been conferred the exclusive right of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the Bahá'í Writings.' Its pronouncements, which are susceptible of amendment or abrogation by the House of Justice itself, serve to supplement and apply the Law of God. Although not invested with the function of interpretation, the House of Justice is in a position to do everything necessary to establish the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh on this earth. Unity of doctrine is maintained by the existence of the authentic texts of Scripture and the voluminous interpretations of 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi, together with the absolute prohibition against anyone propounding 'authoritative' or 'inspired' interpretations or usurping the function of Guardian. Unity of administration is assured by the authority of the Universal House of Justice."

- The Universal House of Justice, from a letter dated 9 March 1965

Quote of the Day, 13 ‘Ilm 173 BE






"...it is made indubitably clear and evident that the Guardian of the Faith has been made the Interpreter of the Word and that the Universal House of Justice has been invested with the function of legislating on matters not expressly revealed in the teachings. The interpretation of the Guardian, functioning within his own sphere, is as authoritative and binding as the enactments of the International House of Justice, whose exclusive right and prerogative is to pronounce upon and deliver the final judgment on such laws and ordinances as Bahá'u'lláh has not expressly revealed. Neither can, nor will ever, infringe upon the sacred and prescribed domain of the other. Neither will seek to curtail the specific and undoubted authority with which both have been divinely invested."

- Shoghi Effendi, from a letter dated 8 February 1934

Quote of the Day, 12 ‘Ilm 173 BE






"Verily Thy lovers thirst, O my Lord; lead them to the wellspring of bounty and grace. Verily, they hunger; send down unto them Thy heavenly table. Verily, they are naked; robe them in the garments of learning and knowledge.
Heroes are they, O my Lord, lead them to the field of battle. Guides are they, make them to speak out with arguments and proofs. Ministering servants are they, cause them to pass round the cup that brimmeth with the wine of certitude. O my God, make them to be songsters that carol in fair gardens, make them lions that couch in the thickets, whales that plunge in the vasty deep."
- Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Baha

Quote of the Day, 11 ‘Ilm 173 BE





"The mystery of sacrifice is that man should sacrifice all his conditions for the divine station of God. The station of God is mercy, kindness, forgiveness, sacrifice, favor, grace and giving life to the spirits and lighting the fire of His love in the hearts and arteries."

- Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Volume 1

Monday, October 24, 2016

Quote of the Day, 10 ‘Ilm 173 BE





"..God proveth His servants and sifteth them, separating the believer from the infidel, the detached from the worldly, the pious from the profligate, the doer of good from the worker of iniquity, and so forth. Thus hath the Dove of holiness proclaimed: 'Do men think when they say 'We believe' they shall be let alone and not be put to proof?' "
- Baha'u'llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries

Saturday, October 22, 2016

Quote of the Day, 9 ‘Ilm 173 BE






“...it behoveth him who is the recipient of an inward or outward gift or who partaketh of the bread of heaven to inform and invite his friends with the utmost love and kindness. If they respond favourably, his object is attained; otherwise he should leave them to themselves without contending with them or uttering a word that would cause the least sadness.”

- Bahá’u’lláh, The Tabernacle of Unity

Quote of the Day, 8 ‘Ilm 173 BE






"Tragically, organized religion, whose very reason for being entails service to the cause of brotherhood and peace, behaves all too frequently as one of the most formidable obstacles in the path; to cite a particular painful fact, it has long lent its credibility to fanaticism. We feel a responsibility, as the governing council of one of the world religions, to urge earnest consideration of the challenge this poses for religious leadership."

- Letter from the Universal House of Justice to the world's religious leaders

Quote of the Day, 7 ‘Ilm 173 BE






"Faith is the magnet which draws the confirmation of the Merciful One. Service is the magnet which attracts the heavenly strength. I hope thou wilt attain both."

- Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Volume 1

Quote of the Day, 6 ‘Ilm 173 BE






"...man must become evanescent in God. Must forget his own selfish conditions that he may thus arise to the station of sacrifice."

- Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Volume 2

Quote of the Day, 5 ‘Ilm 173 BE





"The service of the friends belongs to God, not to them."

- Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Volume 1

Quote of the Day, 4 ‘Ilm 173 BE





"Man is in the ultimate degree of materiality and the beginning of spirituality; that is, he is at the end of imperfection and the beginning of perfection. He is at the furthermost degree of darkness and the beginning of the light."
- `Abdu'l-Baha, Some Answered Questions

Quote of the Day, 3 ‘Ilm 173 BE






"Know thou for a certainty that the Will of God is not limited by the standards of the people, and God doth not tread in their ways."

- Baha'u'llah, Tablet of Ishraqat (Splendors)

Quote of the Day, 2 ‘Ilm 173 BE






“...reading without understanding is of no abiding profit unto man.”

Bahá'u'lláh, Kitab-i-Iqan

Quote of the Day, 1 ‘Ilm 173 BE






"Verily, it is enjoined upon you to offer a feast, once in every month, though only water be served; for God hath purposed to bind hearts together, albeit through both earthly and heavenly means."

- Baha'u'llah, Kitab-i-Aqdas

Quote of the Day, 19 Mashíyyat 173 BE





"O friends! Be not careless of the virtues with which ye have been endowed, neither be neglectful of your high destiny. Suffer not your labors to be wasted through the vain imaginations which certain hearts have devised. Ye are the stars of the heaven of understanding, the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft-flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men, the letters inscribed upon His sacred scroll. With the utmost unity, and in a spirit of perfect fellowship, exert yourselves, that ye may be enabled to achieve that which beseemeth this Day of God."

- Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah

Quote of the Day, 18 Mashíyyat 173 BE






"Strive constantly to serve the welfare of the world; by devotion to selfless work one attains the supreme goal of life. Do your work with the welfare of others always in mind"

- Words attributed to Krishna, the Bhagavad-Gita

Quote of the Day, 17 Mashíyyat 173 BE





"My true being is unborn and changeless. I am the Lord who dwells in every creature. Through the power of my own maya, I manifest myself in a finite form."

- Words attributed to Krishna, the Bhagavad-Gita

Quote of the Day, 16 Mashíyyat 173 BE






"O CHILDREN OF MEN!
Know ye not why We created you all from the same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other. Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of holiness from the tree of wondrous glory."

- Hidden Words of Baha'u'llah

Quote of the Day, 15 Mashíyyat 173 BE





"O Lord, help me to be meek and lowly and strengthen me in severing myself from all things and in holding to the hem of the garment of Thy Glory, so that my heart may be filled with Thy love and leave no space for the love of the world and the attachment to its qualities."
- Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Volume 1

Quote of the Day, 14 Mashíyyat 173 BE






"Faith is the seed, practice the rain,
And wisdom is my yoke and plow.
Modesty's the pole, mind the strap,
Mindfulness my plowshare and goad."

- Words attributed to Gautama Buddha, Kasi Bharadvaja Sutta

Quote of the Day, 13 Mashíyyat 173 BE






"The Divine Messengers have been sent down, and their Books were revealed, for the purpose of promoting the knowledge of God, and of furthering unity and fellowship amongst men."

- Baha'u'llah, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf

Quote of the Day, 12 Mashíyyat 173 BE





“Let us put aside all thoughts of self; let us close our eyes to all on earth, let us neither make known our sufferings nor complain of our wrongs. Rather let us become oblivious of our own selves, and drinking down the wine of heavenly grace, let us cry out our joy, and lose ourselves in the beauty of the All-Glorious.”

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

Quote of the Day, 11 Mashíyyat 173 BE





"Know that, verily, this day is the day of teaching, this day is the day of diffusing the fragrances of God, being severed from aught else save God, attracted to the Word of God, and clinging to the Covenant of God. There is no work greater than this. Be ye entirely spiritual, purely brilliant, cut your dependence from any other mention, thought or purpose, and confine your mentions, thoughts and occupations to spreading the fragrances of God, and devote your attention to this great work. By God, the True One, verily, the Sun of Truth will cast forth its lights in your assemblies and will make you shining lamps, glittering stars, brilliant signs, and as souls attracted to the Holy Spirit. This is the great prosperity! This is the manifest light!"

- Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Volume 1

Quote of the Day, 10 Mashíyyat 173 BE






"Strive with all thy powers in diffusing the spirit of real union among the people, so that all who are on earth become one family, loving, united, agreed, bound by the bonds of love and united with all harmony in all things and conditions; this is the greater happiness of the human race in the world of possibilities and the cause of attaining to all hopes and reaching unto the Supreme Kingdom, after ascending unto the world of God."

- Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Vol 1

Quote of the Day, 9 Mashíyyat 173 BE






"The true worshiper, while praying, should endeavor not so much to ask God to fulfill his wishes and desires, but rather to adjust these and make them conform to the Divine Will. Only through such an attitude can one derive that feeling of inner peace and contentment which the power of prayer alone can confer."

- Letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, 26 October 1938

Quote of the Day, 8 Mashíyyat 173 BE






"It befitteth the friends to hold a gathering, a meeting, where they shall glorify God and fix their hearts upon Him, and read and recite the Holy Writings of the Blessed Beauty -- may my soul be the ransom of His lovers! The lights of the All-Glorious Realm, the rays of the Supreme Horizon, will be cast upon such bright assemblages, for these are none other than the Mashriqu'l-Adhkars, the Dawning-Points of God's Remembrance, which must, at the direction of the Most Exalted Pen, be established in every hamlet and city... These spiritual gatherings must be held with the utmost purity and consecration, so that from the site itself, and its earth and the air about it, one will inhale the fragrant breathings of the Holy Spirit."

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

Quote of the Day, 7 Mashíyyat 173 BE






"The state of prayer is the best of conditions, for man is then associating with God. Prayer verily bestoweth life, particularly when offered in private and at times, such as midnight, when freed from daily cares."
- Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Baha

Quote of the Day, 6 Mashíyyat 173 BE







“For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.”

- Matthew 18:20

Quote of the Day, 5 Mashíyyat 173 BE





"...turn to the Supreme Kingdom, forget thyself entirely and remain firm in the spiritual trials, so that thou mayest see the favors of the Kingdom and realize the heavenly confirmation."

- Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Vol 1

Quote of the Day, 4 Mashíyyat 173 BE






"It is incumbent upon you to ponder in your hearts and meditate upon His words, and humbly to call upon Him, and to put away self in His heavenly Cause. These are the things that will make of you signs of guidance unto all mankind, and brilliant stars shining down from the all-highest horizon, and towering trees in the Abha Paradise."

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

Quote of the Day, 3 Mashíyyat 173 BE






“O my Lord!
Make Thy beauty to be my food, and Thy presence my drink, and Thy pleasure my hope, and praise of Thee my action, and remembrance of Thee my companion, and the power of Thy sovereignty my succorer, and Thy habitation my home, and my dwelling-place the seat Thou hast sanctified from the limitations imposed upon them who are shut out as by a veil from Thee.
Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the All-Glorious, the Most Powerful.”

- Bahá'u'lláh, Baha'i Prayers

Quote of the Day, 2 Mashíyyat 173 BE






"...the core of religious faith is that mystic feeling which unites Man with God. This state of spiritual communion can be brought about and maintained by means of meditation and prayer. And this is the reason why Bahá’u’lláh has so much stressed the importance of worship. It is not sufficient for a believer merely to accept and observe the teachings. He should, in addition, cultivate the sense of spirituality which he can acquire chiefly by means of prayer. The Bahá’í Faith, like all other Divine Religions, is thus fundamentally mystic in character."

- Letter to an individual believer by Shoghi Effendi, December 8 1935

Quote of the Day, 1 Mashíyyat 173 BE





“It is neither possible nor desirable for the Universal House of Justice to set forth a set of rules covering every situation. Rather it is the task of the individual believer to determine, according to his own prayerful understanding of the Writings, precisely what his course of conduct should be in relation to situations which he encounters in his daily life. If he is to fulfill his true mission in life as a follower of the Blessed Perfection, he will pattern his life according to the Teachings. The believer cannot attain this objective merely by living according to a set of rigid regulations. When his life is oriented toward service to Bahá’u’lláh, and when every conscious act is performed within this frame of reference, he will not fail to achieve the true purpose of his life.
Therefore, every believer must continually study the sacred Writings and the instructions of the beloved Guardian, striving always to attain a new and better understanding of their import to him and to his society. He should pray fervently for Divine Guidance, wisdom and strength to do what is pleasing to God, and to serve Him at all times and to the best of his ability.”

- Letter from the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer, Oct. 17, 1968

Quote of the Day, 19 ‘Izzat 173 BE






"...the days of a man are full of peril and he cannot rely on so much as a moment more of life; and still the people, who are even as a wavering mirage of illusions, tell themselves that in the end they shall reach the heights. Alas for them! The men of bygone times hugged these same fancies to their breasts, until a wave flicked over them and they returned to dust, and they found themselves excluded and bereft..."

- Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha

Quote of the Day, 18 ‘Izzat 173 BE






"Grieve not at the divine trials. Be not troubled because of hardships and ordeals; turn unto God, bowing in humbleness and praying to Him, while bearing every ordeal, contented under all conditions and thankful in every difficulty."

- Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Vol 1

Quote of the Day, 17 ‘Izzat 173 BE





"Show us the right way, that is, honor us with the love of Thine Essence, that we may be freed from turning toward ourselves and toward all else save Thee, and may become wholly Thine, and know only Thee, and see only Thee, and think of none save Thee."
- Baha'u'llah, The Seven Valleys

Quote of the Day, 16 ‘Izzat 173 BE





"Nothing is, or can ever be, hidden from God."

- Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah

Quote of the Day, 15 ‘Izzat 173 BE






"O ye children of the Kingdom!
It is New Year; that is to say, the rounding of the cycle of the year. A year is the expression of a cycle (of the sun); but now is the beginning of a cycle of Realty, a New Cycle, a New Age, a New Century, a New Time and a New Year. Therefore it is very blessed.
I wish this blessing to appear and become manifest in the faces and characteristics of the believers, so that they, too, may become a new people, and having found new life and been baptized with fire and spirit, may make the world a new world, to the end that the old earth may disappear and the new earth appear; old ideas depart and new thoughts come; old garments be cast aside and new garments put on; ancient politics whose foundation is war be discarded and modern politics founded on peace raise the standard of victory; the new star shine and gleam and the new sun illumine and radiate; new flowers bloom; the new spring become known; the new breeze blow; the new bounty descend; the new tree give forth new fruit; the new voice become raised and this new sound reach the ears, that the new will follow the new, and all the old furnishings and adornments be cast aside and new decorations put in their places.
I desire for you all that you will have this great assistance and partake of this great bounty, and that in spirit and heart you will strive and endeavor until the world of war become the world of peace; the world of darkness the world of light; satanic conduct be turned into heavenly behavior; the ruined places become built up; the sword be turned into the olive branch; the flash of hatred become the flame of the love of God and the noise of the gun the voice of the Kingdom; the soldiers of death the soldiers of life; all the nations of the world one nation; all races as one race; and all national anthems harmonized into one melody.
Then this material realm will be Paradise, the earth Heaven, and the world of Satan become the world of Angels."

- Tablets of `Abdu'l-Baha Abbas, Vol 1

Quote of the Day, 14 ‘Izzat 173 BE






"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal:
But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also."

- Matthew 6:19-21

Quote of the Day, 13 ‘Izzat 173 BE





"Forget your own selves, and turn your eyes towards your neighbor."

- Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah

Quote of the Day, 12 ‘Izzat 173 BE






“If any individual should speak ill of one who is absent, it is incumbent on his hearers, in a spiritual and friendly manner, to stop him, and say in effect: would this detraction serve any useful purpose? Would it please the Blessed Beauty, contribute to the lasting honour of the friends, promote the holy Faith, support the Covenant, or be of any possible benefit to any soul? No, never! On the contrary, it would make the dust to settle so thickly on the heart that the ears would hear no more, and the eyes would no longer behold the light of truth.”

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

Quote of the Day, 11 ‘Izzat 173 BE






"The mysteries of man's physical death and of his return have not been
divulged, and still remain unread."

- Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah

Friday, October 21, 2016

Quote of the Day, 10 ‘Izzat 173 BE







"...ye are all the drops from but one ocean, the foliage of one tree, the pearls from a single shell, the flowers and sweet herbs from the same one garden."
- Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá