Bahá'í Sources

The transcriber of the talk, Carol Rutstein, writes:

...these are the notes I took from Peter Khan's (member of the Universal House of Justice) talk in NYC last Sat night. They are just NOTES - not to be taken as his literal statements. He always prefaces his talks with the statement that it is his own opinion and thought, not the House of Justice. And so this is my understanding of what he said. Sometimes it might not be so clear because he speaks very fast, and to keep up was not easy. Hope you will enjoy reading them.

"The World's Equilibrium"

Dr Peter Khan

The people are becoming more profoundly concerned about the world's condition. All the turmoil, uncertainty and searching for direction centers around the New World Order. To this we should look for direction. I am going to give a personal impression of a progress report on where we are at this time. What is happening with the development of the World Order of Baha' u'llah.

In this progress report of the state and condition - I will make some general remarks about the World Order itself.

First: The Baha'i Teachings are not unique in their ideals. (oneness of Mankind, equality of women and men). These are not unique to the Baha'I Faith. Most other traditions have these teachings. And thinking people will say "Yes, that's good. I already think that".

What IS unique is that this Revelation brings a realistic, practical approach to the attainment of ideals. It brings ideals into reality. What we call the world order is the vehicle and the means for doing this. Second: The world order of Baha'u'llah is not something we have now started working on. It is an intrinsic element of the Faith. The Bab in the Bayan spoke of this and it was further developed by Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha, Shoghi Effendi. It has been progressively clarified and its implementation set into being.

The World Order of Baha'u'llah rests on the Kitab-I-Aqdas - the laws of the future. The laws are complex, detailed and they combine together to create a structure of future civilization. Some of the laws are clear, some are mysterious. Some (at first sight) might appear strange. The future civilization will have a character far different from now. An example is the law about renewing the furnishings of your home every 19 years. Why in a book of such spiritual tone, would there be such a mundane subject as this. There is a profound spiritual purpose - and it will take the passage of decades perhaps centuries to understand the kernel of truth here. We may get insights into the psychological effects of environmental change. When humanity reaches a stable population, such a law will be understood to foster creativity, artistic endeavor. These laws lay the basis of future world civilization.

The World Order has three dimensions:

1. The transformation of values of individuals - to occur generation after generation - without compromise or corruption This is reflected in the Tablets of the Divine Plan.

2. Creating new patterns of cooperation and social organization. Changing the way people relate to one another, make decisions - collective decision making. The Administrative Order.

3. The Central body - coordination: fostering of creative impulse (In the past institutions tended to stifle innovation - to foster uniformity.) This will be absent, due to the Central Body of the Faith, which will protect and foster the balance of central authority with individual initiative. Tablet of Carmel is the charter for the development of the World Center.

The World Order of Baha'u'llah has three processes: The development of the World Center, the development of the Administrative Order and Propagation (Tablets of the Divine Plan).

The challenge is to allow all three to grow in balance, organically, in an evolutionary manner. This development requires due attention to foster the three processes in the short term and the long term. Those of us who have been affected by Western thought think sequentially. First you do one thing and then when completed, you do another. These three processes must go on simultaneously, interacting with each other and in balance.

I will speak on these three processes in the Development of the World Order of Baha'u'llah: The World Center, The Administrative Order and Propagation.

1. THE WORLD CENTER: There is physical turmoil at the World Center because of the construction. We are used to dust and machinery operating all the time. We are in the latter phase of the completion of the buildings on Mount Carmel, some of which will be ready for occupancy perhaps by the year 2000 or so. We have been beset by difficulties: receiving the funds necessary, the political instability, terrorism, the difficulty finding artisans who have the skills to maintain the very high standard required, permits, materials, etc. All are being solved.

There is a question: Why did we do it? If I were aware of how limited the means of the Baha'i community is, and I were looking at this, I would wonder "why spend scarce resources on such expensive buildings? Why not spend it on direct alleviation of suffering, educational programs, scholarships around the world. The amount spent has never been announced, but it can be estimated to be in the realm of $200 million. What was the reason? There is no answer if one does not accept the spiritual dimension. There is no reasonable answer if the orientation is material. We, as Baha'is, are not people whose total focus is material. There are great spiritual forces at the core of our belief. This is a dimension of our faith - that the release of great spiritual forces is associated with the development of the World Center on Mount Carmel. There is a sacredness - these great spiritual forces. This development is a response to the mechanism of those forces. The guidance in the Writings is the reason we have directed so much of the resources of the Faith to this development. Shoghi Effendi referred to the mysterious spiritual potency of the monument gardens. He spoke of the effect on the development of the cause all over the world. The establishment of the World Administrative Center is essential to the accomplishment of God's Purpose for mankind through the World Order.

It is spiritual, not material - more compelling. We make no apologies for this response to profound spiritual truths. Other reasons - more mundane - it is a collective act of worship of God. We offer it to our Lord as an element of our worship. This revelation is committed to beauty as well as worship. Most people's view of the future is not beautiful. (When we look at the films dealing with the future, there is ugliness). We are a religion of beauty as well as reason, we see the future as beautiful as well as peaceful and harmonious. Emergence of the Faith.

Question #2. At the World Center there are 600 people who serve. Why in the world do you need 600 people? ("This is an awkward question for me to be asking - if I were not a member of the House of Justice I'd probably lose my voting rights" - laughter). We are setting a foundation of the World Administrative of the Faith for centuries to come. Of the 600 - 300 are concerned with paper. How could there be so much paper? There are 179 NSA's, 81 Counselors, numbers of NSA's external agencies, office at the UN. We get letters from NSA's - minutes. It is estimated that we get 10 to 15 thousand letters. Someone has to answer them There are copies, retrieval techniques, statistics to keep (Four Year Plan), literature translation - 800 languages, legal affairs office, research department, library, newsletters, archives, photos, catalogued conservation , restoring of documents, finance currencies of 179 countries constantly fluctuating, investments, real value. The 300 others: gardens, weeding, lawns, shrubs. Why do we have 100 acres to beautify? Fundamentally for the worship of God. On the slopes of the Holy Mountain. Works office, restores and repairs Holy Places. They are subject to disrepair, wear and tear. Security, cleaning, maintenance office. We have 2000 pilgrims and visitors. Our Holy places and buildings still look brand new, due to the excellent care and maintenance. People who visit buildings that are 15 years occupied are amazed to find they are not brand new. This is why 600 people are at the World Center. We are expanding and developing the World Center in accordance to need, with economy. At present no more than a fraction of the space is occupied. Other offices will be added.

2. ADMINISTRATIVE DEVELOPMENT: The International Convention this year was significantly more wonderful than any of the others. There was a far greater diversity of participants. In the past mostly Persian and American pioneers were delegates to the International Convention, because they went out to spread the Faith all around the world. There was a greater maturity. A greater percentage were indigenous believers and the maturity of their consultation was greater. It was truly international. There was a far greater involvement of women in consultation. There are many cultures where women are shy and reticent. In the past many indigenous delegates would not speak. This year, they overcame their shyness and contributed freely. The inter NSA cooperation was routinized. A whole network of Inter NSA cooperation. Soon we will have more NSA's. Faroe Islands, Balkans States will be separated into Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia. Malta, French Polynesia. The Universal House of Justice decision in Ridvan 1997 that Assembly formation could only occur on the first day of Ridvan was significant. Many said we would lose many Assemblies. The communities had to take the initiative themselves or lose their LSA's. There was drop of 6% - but the following year we regained most of those. This is a measure of the maturity of response. The LSA's are more mature, concerned with justice versus mercy, external relations, human rights, children, minorities, women.

3. PROPAGATION: Tablets of the Divine Plan. It would be imaginary to say that we had had a vast increase in our numbers. It is more like modest. What conclusion is to be reached from this fact? Should we be dissatisfied, disappointed? Of course, the Four Year Plan calls for an increase in the process of Entry by Troops. Always within that context, there is a great deal of satisfaction in human resource development. We have 10's, 1000s of Baha'is converted from passive to active. Through the Institute process. The courses are training believers toward ACTION. Teaching of the Faith. In the Four Year Plan, there is an increase in people power, more serving the Faith. When we look for victory there is a striking increase in human resources. Systematic approach. "When we were working on the Ridvan Message at the beginning of the plan, there were several drafts, and different people were working on parts of it. When we put it all together, we found that we had used the word "systematic" eleven times on one page. We had to reduce it to about six. You see the point we were making - perhaps over-making" (Laughter) There is a variety of approaches - to meet a diversity of needs. We need to teach specific populations. Management, business (ethics) medical (concept of nature of human being) Ridvan Message speaks of the hunger in the world. There is a world-wide concern about racism. People of conscience. There is a transformation of values necessary to eradicate that evil. In countries where there is financial instability like Korea, Japan, some of the Asian countries, the NSA's there are reporting a sharp increase in receptivity, because people are realizing that material well-being cannot satisfy the spiritual hunger. There is social disintegration, disorder in Africa, tension in Europe. Social breakdown, corruption in government. Deep concern is part of spiritual hunger. The Baha'i Faith had promoted racial unity, advancement of women, rights of all people in a consistent way. Other groups have latched on to these issues, but after a time, gone on to other issues. The Baha'is have been consistent in their promotion of these issues.

There are countries where values education for children is very successful. In the state schools, religious education is compulsory. The Baha'is are offering it - in such a universal way, non-Baha'is are coming. In one community there are 10 Baha'is. They offer a class on spiritual education and 150 children attend. Every week. There is a yearning for a sense of community - we have a trust and are optimistic. We don't think that maybe it will happen. In the Ridvan Message of 1998 we find a certitude of the immanence of great victories, resounding victories.

'Abdu'l-Baha in the Star of the West - in the early part of the century said that the world was like a baby asleep in its crib, oblivious of the world around it. The troubles of the world are like shaking the crib. The baby sleeps more deeply. When the amplitude would increase, eventually the baby wakes up in fright. That is now happening. Turning to us is fear and insecurity, looking to us for direction. That is our job!

We need to relate our teaching to current issues. We should get together and talk about problems of society and analyze them at a deeper level. Find the values, which underlie the problem. Example: soccer violence, it arises from frustration - perhaps the people have a dead end job, unhappy, the fans are a tribe, there is cohesion in opposing the other team. Someone who deeply yearns for community. What are the Baha'i teachings? We need to resist the tendency to have simplistic solutions to complex problems. Youth and children: We can expect more from youth. Parents are stunned at the level of responsibility given to the young people who are serving at the World Center. We appeal to their better nature. Most of the time it works. Of course there are a few who cannot measure up.

How can we help the world to achieve true lasting peace, with all the terrible things that are going on? That is a very important question. Is there time? We are reassured by the promise of peace. We are distinguished by our certitude that it will happen. We must work towards a future in the most effective and efficient way. The transformation of values is necessary. I have been typecast - like Clint Eastwood - as the one who speaks on "mental tests" in the Western world. If we can identify certain subtle things we can take defensive measures - deepening in the Covenant. It will immunize us from severe mental tests, which subtly seduce us to erosion of faith.

Question on creativity. The House of Justice is the first body concerned with the coordination of fostering creativity, innovation. What has it done to foster creativity and innovation? Two things. It monitors the Baha'i Community to avoid excessive uniformity. The House has to decide at what point it should call for each - second - The work of the House of Justice is to support, to stimulate growth, development - stretch - use of the arts in propagation of the Faith. It makes key interventions in order to stimulate new thinking.

Church and State. The World Order of Baha'u'llah deals in different way in different places. In the early years one way, later - during the Most Great Peace things will change. Ultimately in the future, maybe centuries and centuries, the House of Justice will be recognized as the government of the world. Subject is almost unintelligible at this stage. Nature of question is rooted in history - connotations regarding church and state. It is nothing like what you are thinking. Look closely at the WOB and get a deeper understanding.

Question: The vast projects on Mt Carmel - reaction of government & Israel?
Answer: There is not one uniform view. We have good relations with the state of Israel. On the informal level there is a pride in people at the beauty being developed on Mt. Carmel. The City of Haifa particularly - partly in anticipation of greater tourism. Some are envious - there is no uniformity of attitude and response.

Question: Women on the House of Justice?
Answer: I am also type cast for this question. Everything is speculation. We wrote the book and decided that NOT deal with the question would be phony. There is quite a large section on it. Don't buy the book, borrow Billy Roberts copy and read it. We intended to write about the Advancement of Women, but it turned out to be a book on the Covenant.

Question: Training Institutes: There is a healthy degree of experimentation across the world. Encourage avoidance of generalization. Some are narrowly focused, some so diffuse that it does not lead to action.

Question: So little written about the women of the Holy Family.
Answer: Ruhiyyih Khanum is working on an unpublished manuscript about this. More will be done in the future. There is a small volume on Navvab.

Question on China. We were in China and the relations went well. We were invited to a private banquet in a large dining room with many delicacies, which we survived. When they offered the piece de resistance, it was a rice crisp with a large crisp scorpion on top. I looked at it and it looked at me. I was fortunate in that it was dead. So I poked it with my chopstick and it was cooked. It was a sign of great honor to be given this delicacy. I grit my teeth and put it in my mouth and ate it. (Laughter)

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Baha'i Journal UK - March/April 2003

Renee Aldridge, Brighton

Renee Aldridge, who has died at the age of 89, became a Baha'i in the spring of 1955 and immediately made plans to pioneer to Malta in the Guardian's Ten Year World Crusade. Encouraged and assisted by Marion Hofman, Renee set off to become the second Baha'i on the island after Knight of Baha'u'llah Olga Mills. A typesetter and printer by profession, Renee lived off her savings for two years and unable to find work on Malta returned to Britain. She taught herself the craft of upholstery, drapery and soft furnishings and returned to Malta where she gained an upmarket clientele. Her society contacts led her to provide furnishings for the home of the Governor General, Sir Maurice Dorman in the St. Anton Palace. There she carried out the preparations for the visit of the Duke of Edinburgh in 1964 and the state visit of the Queen in 1967. Renee moved to Brighton in 1968, served for a period on the Local Spiritual Assembly, and remained a staunch and constant believer till the end of her long life.

Baha'i Journal UK -May/June 2003

Una Dean, née Townshend, Knight of Baha'u'llah

Una Dean, daughter of Hand of the Cause of God George Townshend, was a devoted believer who served the Cause wirh distinction in Ireland and England before pioneering to Malta during the Ten Year Crusade, for which she earned the title Knight of Baha'u'llah. She also rendered loving assistance to her father, in particular with the completion of his influential work Christ and Baha'u'llah. She moved to Canada in 1957 and, with her husband Dick Dean, was a founding member of the Alberta Association of Families in Action for the Dependent Handicapped which advocated, and was successful in, accessing care for children with disabilities. She was much loved and well respected by all who knew her. She died in Edminton, Canada, aged 81, survived by her daughter. " Her service to the Faith was characterized by  devotion and steadfastness,"  wrote the Universal House of Justice, "Her family, as well as her many friends and admirers are assured  of our heartfelt prayers in the Holy Shrines for the progress of her radiant soul throughout all the worlds of God."

Ada Williams

6 October 2003

DEARLY LOVED FRIENDS

The National Spiritual Assembly has been deeply saddened to learn of the death, in her hundredth year, of Ada Williams in North Wales.

Ada was a devoted believer for eight decades having embraced the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh in the early 1920s. In 1948, she pioneered to Motherwell earning Shoghi Effendi’s “DEEPEST LOVING APPRECIATION”. Her subsequent pilgrimage and meeting with the beloved Guardian had a profound effect on her. Ada’s visit to the Holy Shrines inspired her to “walk barefoot, if necessary, o every region on the planet to teach the Faith.” A further pioneer move to Blackpool in 1965 was followed by years of travel-teaching at home and overseas, to places as diverse as Malta, South Africa and Canada.

Ada Williams continued to serve well into her old age with courage, devotion and enthusiasm, inspiring the friends with her unflagging spirit and love of the Cause. In the last ear of her life she appeared in the video “Ordinary Heroes” and was delighted to attend the National Convention in Llandudno.

The National Spiritual Assembly assures Ada’s  family and friends of its loving condolences and prayers for the progress of Ada’s noble soul in all the worlds of God.

With loving Bahá’í greetings
National Spiritual Assembly

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Mrs. Barbara Lewis
Winchester

Former National Spiritual Assembly and Auxiliary
Board Member Barbara Lewis has died at the age of
81.

Once a World War II code-breaker, she became a Bahá'í in 1953 after being taken to a fireside by some Persian friends.
Née Simmonds, she was brought up in a small village in south Wales and studied French at University in Exeter. On graduating she deciphered codes at the renowned  Bletchley  Park base.
After becoming a Bahá'í, she served on the European and Asian Teaching Committee supporting pioneers of the Ten Year Crusade, as well as the Regional Teaching Committee and later the National Teaching Committee.
She attended the funeral of Shoghi Effendi in 1957, the First World Congress in 1963 and the 1992 Second World Congress, as well as the dedication of the House of Worship in Germany in 1964.
She married David Lewis and later in 1966 the family pioneered to Winchester.  Mrs Lewis was elected to the National Spiritual Assembly in 1972 and served for six  years, sometimes as vice-chairman, before being appointed as an Auxiliary Board Member for Propagation. In the eight years in which she served in this capacity, she loved meeting with the friends and organising deepening classes which would often involve quizzes or other participative methods.
In 1991, Mr and Mrs Lewis were short-term pioneers to Malta and on their return she became active in a  number of local civic committees. During her life, Mrs Lewis taught many people the Faith, and although not very mobile in her last years continued to teach all those who came to her home.
A message from the Universal House of Justice after her death read:
"The Universal House of Justice was saddened to learn of the passing of that faithful maidservant of Bahá'u'lláh Barbara Lewis. It recalls with gratitude her years of consecrated service to the Cause she loved on your Assembly, as a member of the Auxiliary Board and as a pioneer, both on the home front in England and Wales and further afield to Malta. Her family and loved ones are assured of its prayers at the Sacred Threshold for the progress of her soul and for their comfort in their bereavement."

WHENEVER I move to a new place (rather too often I fear), I always find myself looking for the spot I might be buried if I should die in the locality – perhaps this is an unhealthy obsession, but there it is. In any case, right now I am living in Malta where neither the land nor, specifically, the cemeteries are quite what I had in mind for my last resting place – I don’t find the prospect of a Maltese grave very attractive at all. Indeed, given my love for the green of northern climes, I don’t think it much of a prospect for anyone, and it was with this feeling in mind that I was musing a few days ago on the fifty-year anniversary of the Bahá’í Faith in Malta, and on one who has been either on or in the island for all of them.

While it’s no secret, not everyone knows that the territory of Malta had three Knights of Bahá’u’lláh – Olga Mills was the third to come, the one who stayed, and the one who died here. The last she did when my wife June and I were first pioneers to the island in 1974, when we were rather young and I hadn’t taken up the obsession I have mentioned. I was away in Scotland when Olga died, so I wasn’t present at her funeral. I know, of course, where her grave is situated, have visited it a few times, and pass it quite often on the bus. The graveyard, like the rest of the island, is crowded and not very tidy, dominated by the local limestone, and dry and dusty in the late summer heat. That it is not a place where I would like to lie forever was the essence of my musings the last time I passed by.

June confidently asserts that my concern with prospective burial sites is not obsessive, so maybe it’s just a bit silly. Whatever of that, and notwithstanding the obvious sacrifice that Olga made in living on the island of Malta for nearly all of twenty-one years, my mind was telling that the greater sacrifice was to offer her bones to the thin dry soil, and to the land still quite barren after so long. We speak often and easily of planting seeds, but those which Olga left have been mighty hard in the cultivation – surely fruits have come, but rather too many of them have fallen prematurely and withered on the hard and sparsely watered ground.

For much of the time she had the friendship of the late Jean Campbell and, having enjoyed that bounty myself (albeit briefly), I know something of its value. New believers joined these two and the first assembly was formed in 1973 – one of its members is found here yet. For my part, and even though the Malta we experienced in ’74 was closer to hers, I am still at a loss to imagine what it would have been like to live alone in this country through the years that Olga did, to fade away in hospital with more strangers than friends to visit, and all the while having the prospect of that Maltese grave before her.

Now, twenty-nine and a half years after Olga’s death, we latter-day pioneers enjoy a more or less efficient postal service, relatively inexpensive telephone calls, cable and satellite television, BBC Radio 4 via the internet, and supermarkets selling goods with which we are familiar. We might have the company of a spouse or other family members, and it is even comparatively cheap to fly “home” now and then to meet those not here, to experience rain that doesn’t fall in lumps on the odd occasion that it falls at all, or later in the year to eat the russet apples that don’t make their way to these further flung corners. I have these, and yet I can still contrive sometimes to feel lonely and depressed, commonly on receiving a small setback to test my confidence or on waking from a dream that has June die and me living out my days here to be near her earthly remains. Whether Olga was more or less likely to slip into despair without them, in a country which used to claim to be more Catholic than the Pope and whose people still show stark resistance to the new Messenger and His message, I don’t know, but I imagine that she must sometimes have contemplated her lonely grave.

So it is, with these notions and my little silliness or obsession, that last Thursday on the bus I came to the conclusion that Olga’s real sacrifice was not in life but in death, in consenting to lie without family and close friends nearby, to be visited only infrequently by those who mostly did not know her, and this one who has not yet found courage like hers to stay. At this anniversary time, it turns out to be my fate that concerns me.

Nicholas J A Sanders

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[obit. Edith McLaren, 1901-May 1991, see
obit. American Baha'i, August 1991, p. 31]
 

Edith McLaren Pilgrim Notes

May 2-10, 1954

[Online version provided by Robert Stauffer, 1997.
Proofread by T. Lovejoy.
Any errors from original retained.]

NOTES OF THE PILGRIMAGE OF EDITH MCLAREN     MAY 2 - 10, 1954

My arrival in Haifa just before noon on May second was exactly one year after I made the decision to request permission from the beloved Guardian. To at last have the privilege to come to this blessed spot was the fulfillment of a long cherished dream.

This very first day was filled with unexpected events, for it was the anniversary of the Martyrdom of the Bab according to the Moslem calendar. Ruhiyyih Khanum was entertaining the Bahai women from Akka, the Persian women pilgrims, the American women on the Internacional Council at a luncheon. Since I was the only western pilgrim for the first two days they seemed as delighted to meet me as I was to meet them. The love shone out of their eyes, from the youngest girl to the elderly niece of Baha'u'llah in her simple gray flannel dress.

Later in the afternoon we were all taken to the Shrine of the Bab where we waited in the little portico outside the Eastern Pilgrim house until the beloved Guardian finished his conversation with the men pilgrims from Persia. Just at twilight when the stars were beginning to come out I had my first glimpse of the beloved as he came out of the house, slowly walked up the path to the Shrine followed by the men. The lights went on at the Shrine and the women followed going into the side reserved for them. Therein that matchless room, that sacred spot, I suddenly heard the voice of the Guardian chanting the Tablet of Visitation of Baha'u'llah as the fragrance of attar of roses permeated the evening air. Next we entered the room to the left where Abdul-Baha is situated and heard the Guardian chant again. To have had this tremendous experience during the first hours of the first day was like being lifted into anothe world. It was nearly nine o'clock when we went in to the dining room for dinner. The overwhelming feeling of unworthiness that comes over one as he walks across the dimly lighted room for the first time and sees Shoghi Effendi rise from the table in the dining room and come forward to greet him is felt to a great degree by every pilgrim. One can scarcely eat seeing his eyes for the first time and hearing him speak. After the first words of greeting and asking about the activity in Rome where I had stopped for a day or two, as compared to the activity of the Faith in the U.S. The Guardian asked about Mrs. Esty in Buffalo, near my town of Hamburg. Mrs. Esty is the believer who presented the large portrait of Abdul-Baha to the Guardian as well as one to hang in the Temple in Chicago. Then the conversation turned to the World Crusade and the need for dispersal. He told us that if the Baha'is do not bring about this dispersal God will do so. . . that we now have nearly 3000 centers in the world but what we need is more believers. Six hundred of these centers are in Persia. He spoke much about pioneering and remaining at your post. Do not go away after you get there. Remain and teach the natives.

When asked the question if the youth in the Faith should join the army or remain in college if one had already begun his studies he smiled as he answered that one could join tha army and give a list of places where one would like to be sent - such as Guam. But each one has to decide for himself. The spirit and desire are tha important things.

He spoke of Africa as an example to all, in the way the Faith is growing there. Americans should bring more of the Indians and colored people into the Faith. If we don't teach them the negroes from Africa will have to come to teach. The Baha'is like to go to social affairs but they should teach - pioneer. The European Teaching Committee is not doing enough

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Tis committee should send more pioneers to France, Malta, etc. The Baha'i must teach, consolidate and incorporate. Then receive endowments. When asked which Fund is the most important at this time the Guardian answered that the World Center Fund and the National were more important at this time than the local. He said if we support the World Center and National Funds the local will benefit. (He did not mention which should come first of these two.)

More local assemblies should incorporate. But this should be done through the national assembly - that is, not without consulting the national body. They must be sure of holding it before incorporating. The Guardian spoke much about the small increase in believers in the U.S., the loss of local assemblies and the deficit in the National Fund.

The pioneers should go to the difficult places not to the easiest ones. The Americans are too materialistic. They will have to suffer to learn. America will suffer the most. The Guardian seemed tired and very serious this evening and there were many pauses which made one realize the seriousness of the times.

The next evening, Monday, May 3rd we found the Guardian very happy and healthy. His eyes were sparkling and his cheeks were pink. He had many cables and letters which had come that day. They all had good news. He could scarcely eat for he wanted to read so many of them to us. Several new pioneers had arrived at their posts, the NSAs had sent cables - he read some of them - from Canada, Australia, India, Persia, Sweden. He was displeased with Sweden because the NSA has spent $21,500 for land for the Temple, 20 miles from their capital when they had only 3000 in their fund. He was very pleased with Africa especially and Canada and Australia. He spoke of several youth who had gone to pioneer in different places. He also read to us the very cordial and friendly letter which had just come that day from the president Ben Svi of Israel who expressed great pleasure and appreciation of his recent visit with the Guardian and Ruhiyyih Khanum. He spoke warmly of the unity and friendly relations which exist between the Baha'i Faith and the State of Israel and that both were working for the welding of the nations.....Leroy Ioas was to speak at the Rotary Club in Jerusalem the following day. The Guardian said that he wish- to send some Baha'i books to the president, since he had asked for literature. (I remember so well that he spoke of the books then - Prayers and Meditations, Gleanings, Dawnbreakers and the Appreciations of the Baha'i Faith. He also said that he would send some plants to Mrs. Ben Svi for her garden. The reason the Guardian was so happy over this visit was because this was the first time a president or high official had called on him. The minister of religions had been invited to come but had refused.....Finally he read to us his cable to the U.S. in which he said that the Honor Roll was now being closed and giving us the latest information on the growth of the Faith. At the end of the dinner time there maps of the property of the Siyah Chal prison which the Guardian brought out and talked about with the members of the Council. He mentioned that the individual who brought the property should now work with the NSA of Persia and decide with Baha'i consultation how the building should be developed and financed.

On another evening The Guardian talked much about the development of the Faith in the East - of the NSAs of Japan, South East Asia, South West Islands and Austrialia. He was so pleased with the accomplishments of the

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Australians. They have the good qualities of the British and not the bad, and a few of the good qualities of the Americans. The East, he hope will progress even faster that Africa did. The Fozdar family was mentioned - how they had all been so active and were wonderful pioneers. In speaking of the Covenant Breakers in Persia he said that Mr. Samandari is the shield of the Cause. He scatters the Covenant- Breakers. He had sent him to Mashad and also to Teheran. He was the only one who could handle the Covenant-Breakers in these places.

Reference was made one evening to the Temple in Isaiah. The Surih of the Temple is a Tablet written by Baha'u'llah in Akka. It represents the five pointed star as the temple of man. (page 213 God Passes By)

The Guardian pointed out the fact that the Baha'is were the only religion in Israel that did not have to pay tax on property used for the Faith because we comply with the rules in contract of land ownership, namely: 1- We will not sell. 2- We do not build. 3. We will not rent. 4. We will not sell produce from the land. We now have property valued at four million dollars. We waited 40 years for the Mansion at Bahji, 50 years for the land on Mt. Carmel, 60 years for the Shrine and 100 years for the Siyah Chal.

In reference to the Americans again the Guardian said that since they have failed to teach the negroes perhaps they will teach the Jews. They shoul form special committees for this. purpose. The Jews character was effected due to enslavement by the Egyptians. That period is now over. Moses was angry and threw down the tablets, and broke them. God also became angry with them. They had persecuted Christ and had to suffer 2000 years persecution. The Jews are the chosen people to support the Baha'i Institutions in the future - the distant future.

The Shrine of the Bab was in the heart of Mt. Carmel and the Temple will be built at the head.

The Kitab-i-Aqdas is revealed for future civilization. These laws will not be given out in their entirety at one time. They will be given out a few at a time over a long span of years. Then the beloved Guardian spoke about how this great Cause develops. First came the Revelation, then the Covenant, then Administration. Next will come World Order and finally World Civilization..... Once he mentioned that our enemies have made the right moves and aided the Cause and its development. Baha'u'llah would never have come to Akka of his own accord. He brought more than a revealed religion. He brought a plan for world civilization.

So often the Guardian spoke about America during the 9 days of my pilgrimage, how it must suffer to be purified, then obtain its destiny and be welded with the other nations. 1. Suffering - to prepare for the welding. 2. Administrative Cradle. These two will prepare America for its destiny to lead all nations spiritually. Not because America is so good but so corrupt was she chosen for this destiny. The early believers th thought that the Master was referring to America at that time but he was referring to the destiny of America.

Again and he* again the Guardian spoke about teaching and pioneering. We must teach the Faith with dignity - never peddle it. The Faith is too precious for that. Example - the way it is handled in Israel.

*[this word "he" is apparently a typo. -ed]

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The pioneers should get out, stay at their posts and teach the Faith. They must not forget that they are there to teach the Faith. They must seek out the sincere souls who are prepared....As to the Summer Schools - the primary books to study are Kitab-i-Iqan and Some Answered Questions. Keep away from the occult and mysticism. Study the writings and know them, then teach. Study, concentrate, then act. There is too much social life at Green Acre and not enough study. There should be study in the evening as well as the daytime. A little play, a little recreation, but not to overdo it. Concentrate on the goals of the Ten Year Crusade and not introduce other things. Be light as the spirit, pure as the air, unrestrained as the wind and blazing like fire.

Some of the things I learned from the beloved Guardian were these: He has great patience. He loves the believers dearly, knows their faults and is always hopeful that they will exert greater and greater effort for the Faith. He has the vision of the Cause as no one else could possibly have. He is focused entirely in the Faith. He works tirelessly, ceasely, always keeping his eye on the goal. He goes ahead and makes plans even when there are severe blocks and obstacles not yet overcome as in the case of the property for the Archives Building at that time. The title was not yet clear for the land but the plans were all ready to begin work when they could. Though his station is not the Exemplar as was Abdul-Baha's yet he is still the great example to the believers every where.

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