Be in perfect unity

Never become angry with one another. Let your eyes be directed toward the kingdom of truth and not toward the world of creation. Love the creatures for the sake of God and not for themselves. You will never become angry or impatient if you love them for the sake of God.

Humanity is not perfect. There are imperfections in every human being, and you will always become unhappy if you look toward the people themselves. But if you look toward God, you will love them and be kind to them, for the world of God is the world of perfection and complete mercy. Therefore, do not look at the shortcomings of anybody; see with the sight of forgiveness.

The imperfect eye beholds imperfections. The eye that covers faults looks toward the Creator of souls. He created them, trains and provides for them, endows them with capacity and life, sight and hearing; therefore, they are the signs of His grandeur.

You must love and be kind to everybody…..

'Abdu'l-Bahá, Promulgation of Universal Peace, pg 93

On prayer......

Whensoever a company of people shall gather in a meeting place, shall engage in glorifying God, and shall speak with one another of the mysteries of God, beyond any doubt the breathings of the Holy Spirit will blow gently over them, and each shall receive a share thereof.

`’Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ’Abdu’l-Bahá, para 56, pg 94


Many find a difficulty in believing in the efficacy of prayer because they think that answers to prayer would involve arbitrary interference with the laws of nature. An analogy may help to remove this difficulty. If a magnet be held over some iron filings the latter will fly upwards and cling to it, but this involves no interference with the law of gravitation. The force of gravity continues to act on the filings just as before. What has happened is that a superior force has been brought into play -- another force whose action is just as regular and calculable as that of gravity. The Bahá'í view is that prayer brings into action higher forces, as yet comparatively little known; but there seems no reason to believe that these forces are more arbitrary in their action than the physical forces. The difference is that they have not yet been fully studied and experimentally investigated, and their action appears mysterious and incalculable because of our ignorance.

Another difficulty which some find perplexing is that prayer seems too feeble a force to produce the great results often claimed to it. Analogy may serve to clear up this difficulty also. A small force, when applied to the sluice gate of a reservoir, may release and regulate an enormous flow of water-power, or, when applied to the steering gear of an ocean liner, may control the course of the huge vessel. In the Bahá'í view, the power that brings about answers to prayer is the inexhaustible Power of God. The part of the suppliant is only to exert the feeble force necessary to release the flow or determine the course of the Divine Bounty, which is ever ready to serve those who have learned how to draw upon it.

Dr. J.E. Esslemont, Bahá’u’lláh and the New Era, p. 96

Make haste to love

Make haste to love! Make haste to trust! Make haste to give!
To guidance come!

Come ye for harmony! To behold the Star of Day!
Come here for kindliness, for ease!
Come here for amity and peace!

Come and cast down your weapons of wrath, till unity is won!
Come and in the Lord's true path each one help each one.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 273

The Central Figures and Institutions of the Bahá'í Faith

Though confronted with persecution since its birth, the Faith of Bahá'u'lláh emerged from its first century of existence with its unity firmly established. Its message of unity and growing global influence is the great untold story of our time.

Here are links to articles about the Central Figures and Institutions of the Bahá'í Faith.

The Báb, the forerunner of Bahá’u'lláh

Bahá’u'lláh, the Manifestation of God

‘Abdu'l Bahá, the Centre of the Covenant

Shoghi Effendi, Guardian of the Bahá'í Faith

The Universal House of Justice

Historical context of the Bábi and Bahá’í Faiths.


They are all from the Official international Bahá'í website.

Bahá'u'lláh stressed the importance of:

Unity

"So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth."

Honesty

"Beautify your tongues, O people, with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with the ornament of honesty."

Chastity

"We, verily, have decreed in Our Book a goodly and bountiful reward to whosoever will turn away from wickedness and lead a chaste and godly life."

Generosity

"Be generous in prosperity and thankful in adversity, be worthy of the trust of thy neighbour and look upon him with a bright and friendly face...."

Trustworthiness

"Cling ye to the hem of virtue, and hold fast to the cord of trustworthiness and piety."

Purity of motive

".....whatsoever thing is arranged in harmony and with love and purity of motive, its result is light, and should the least trace of estrangement prevail the result shall be darkness upon darkness...."

Service to others

'Thy day of service is now come."

Deeds over words

"The essence of faith is fewness of words and abundance of deeds; he whose words exceed his deeds, know verily his death is better than his life."

Work as a form of worship

"We have graciously exalted your engagement in such work to the rank of worship unto God, the True One."

The Only Way

ZOROASTRIANISM

There is only one religious way. This one way is that of good thoughts, good words, and good deeds, the way of heaven, of light and of purity, of the infinite Creator.

The Teachings of the Magi, P.22


HINDUISM

Abandoning all duties, come to Me alone for shelter.

Bhagavad Gita 18:66


BUDDHISM

This is the path. There is no other that leads to vision.

Dhammapada 20:274


CHRISTIANITY

I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.

John 14:6


ISLAM

Whoso seeks guidance elsewhere, God will lead him astray.

Imam'Ali, Hadith


BAHA'I

He that hath Me not is bereft of all things. Turn ye away from all that is on earth and seek none else but Me.

Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh, P.169

Website of interest: THE VIRTUES PROJECT™

The vision of the virtues project is to serve humanity by supporting the moral and spiritual development of people of all cultures, by helping them to remember who they really are and to live by their highest values.

Are you trying to find yourself ?

"The more we search for ourselves, the less likely we are to find ourselves; and the more we search for God, and to serve our fellow-men, the more profoundly will we become acquainted with ourselves, and the more inwardly assured. This is one of the great spiritual laws of life."

From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, February 18, 1954