'Abdu'l-Baha (1844-1921) was one of the first spiritual teachers from the East to visit Europe and North America. He spent most of his life a prisoner of the Iranian and Ottoman governments, exiled and imprisoned for five decades for advocating religious and political reforms. 'Abdu'l-Baha was finally released from prison in 1906 at the age of 62. He immediately began to preach his gospel of religious unity and racial harmony outside of the Middle East. On his visit to the United States in 1912, he was hailed by the Western press and leading intellectuals of the day as the pre-eminent spokesman of liberal religious faith. His teachings blend together a progressive social program and a profound God-centred faith.
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Most people do not know who Abdul-Baha was, although many recognize the name of his father, Baha-ullah, known as the founder of the Bahai faith. Baha-ullah (1817-1892) was a spiritual reformer in the true sense of the word, bringing to the conservative Islamic world a messege of unity, tolerance and peace. He spent much of his adult life in prison and in exile. Abdul-Baha, who joined his exiled father in Palestine at the age of eight, also spent many years in confinement of one sort or another, finally being released at the age of 64. One of several great teachers who came to the West early in the 20th century, he immediatly began to travel widely, and for the final 13 years of his life brought to the world his messege of unity and peace.
Abdul-Baha was a genuine mystic, but a mystic with 'practical feet'. That is, he wanted people to attain union with the divine, on the one hand, but to ground their spirituality in effective day-to-day living. The closer one becomes to God, he claimed, the more readily such a relationship expresses itself in a life of compassion, truth, and service to others.
In our time, there is much in so-called New Age teachings about the process of manifestation, and many are tempted to judge themselves or others by how effective they are at 'creating their own reality' here on the earth plane. The process is not quite so simple, or simplistic as it might seem. For Abdul-Baha, facility in the material realm is not necessarily equated with perfection of the soul, which is the ultimate aim of any life on earth. Such attainment without divine knowledge and attainment is like a 'lamp without a light.'
Abdul-Baha's teachings thus were aimed at helping people come to a true understanding of their life's purpose and how it might be achieved. Such a purpose might be summarized as 'polishing the mirror of the heart', so that it might reflect fully the divine light and enable one to recieve the bounties that thereby become available. Often such a process involves suffering rather than pleasure, limitation rather than freedom, and circumstances which to some may appear unpleasant but which to the conscious evolving soul are the very means by which the polishing process is hastened.
"Our hearts burned when he spoke," are the words of one who sat in his presence. The words are reminiscent of the two disciples who reflected, unaware, on their encounter with Jesus after they thought their master had left them for good. Such is the effect of a genuine master, through whom divine love passes without impediment. Abdul-Baha was such a being, and this book is a valuable primer for anyone who wishes to remedy the perpetual problem of 'forgetting' who they really are.
The book is a collection not only of his teachings, but also of anecdotes and observations shared by those who knew him. Included also are prayers and suggestions for living the spiritual life, which are helpful regardless of one's orientation, and a fine introduction by editor and publisher Steven Scholl. In it he draws the cultural and historical context into which Abdul-Baha and his father planted the seeds of the Bahai pathway, seeds which have taken root and continue to flower in our time.
The Bahai view is that each aspiring soul may find its own way back to God, and that the teacher is there to help on the journey. This philosophy is profoundly experienced when entering the beautiful Bahai temple on Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, which we have done several times. It is felt in an equally elegant manner upon entering this book, which we heartily recommend to all spiritual seekers. -- Sentient Times --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From the Back Cover
Abdul-Baha (1844-1921) was one of the first spiritual teachers from the East to visit Europe and North America. He spent most of his life a prisoner of the Iranian and Ottoman governmentsexiled and imprisoned for five decades for advocating religious and political reforms. Abdul-Baha was finally released from prison in 1906 at the age of 62. He immediately began to preach his gospel of religious unity and racial harmony outside of the Middle East.
On his visit to the United States in 1912, he was hailed by the Western press and leading intellectuals of the day as the preeminent spokesman of liberal religious faith. His teachings blend together a progressive social program and a profound God-centered faith.
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