Assemblies should help believers increase their “love for Bahá'u'lláh”

It is a vital and urgent duty of the Assemblies, both National and Local, not only to apply the Laws of Bahá'u'lláh with justice and firmness, but to increase the believers' understanding of and devotion to these Laws. In this way they will obey them not through fear of punishment but out of love for Bahá'u'lláh and because their whole lives have been transformed and re-oriented in the Way of God. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter to the National Spiritual Assembly of the United States, October 11, 1965; United States Supplement to Bahá'í News, No. 97, March 1966; compilation: ‘Lights of Guidance’)

Baha’u’llah’s ancestry

He [Baha’u’llah] derived His descent, on the one hand, from Abraham (the Father of the Faithful) through his wife Katurah, and on the other from Zoroaster, as well as from Yazdigird, the last king of the Sasaniyan dynasty. He was moreover a descendant of Jesse, and belonged, through His father, Mirza Abbas, better known as Mirza Buzurg -- a nobleman closely associated with the ministerial circles of the Court of Fath-'Ali Shah -- to one of the most ancient and renowned families of Mazindaran. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (God Passes By)

“The Administrative Order conceived by Baha'u'llah”

The Administrative Order conceived by Baha'u'llah accomplishes its divinely ordained purpose through a system of institutions, each with its defined sphere of action. The central governing body of the Order is the Universal House of Justice, whose terms of reference are the revealed Word of  Baha'u'llah together with the interpretations and expositions of 'Abdu'l-Baha  and the Guardian. Under its guidance, legislative, executive and judicial authority over the affairs of the Baha'i community is exercised by Local and National Spiritual Assemblies. This authority is also exercised by Regional Councils, committees and other agencies established by these institutions, to the extent that it is so delegated. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 1 January 2001)

The “last and highest stage in the stupendous evolution of man's collective life on this planet”

The Revelation of Bahá'u'lláh, whose supreme mission is none other but the achievement of this organic and spiritual unity of the whole body of nations, should, if we be faithful to its implications, be regarded as signalizing through its advent the coming of age of the entire human race. It should be viewed not merely as yet another spiritual revival in the ever-changing fortunes of mankind, not only as a further stage in a chain of progressive Revelations, nor even as the culmination of one of a series of recurrent prophetic cycles, but rather as marking the last and highest stage in the stupendous evolution of man's collective life on this planet. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 11 March 1936, published in ‘The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh: Selected Letters’)

Empowering the individual believers

The continual aim of the institutions of the Bahá’í community—whether it be through the operation of summer schools and training institutes, through the development of the Nineteen Day Feasts and National Conventions, or through day-to-day interaction among the friends—is to empower the individual believers so that they will learn how to live their lives with increasing knowledge, wisdom, unity and fruitfulness in conformity with the Teachings of Bahá’u’lláh. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 18 July 200 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

Virtues needed to understand and comprehend the Word of God

The understanding of His words and the comprehension of the utterances of the Birds of Heaven are in no wise dependent upon human learning. They depend solely upon purity of heart, chastity of soul, and freedom of spirit. 

- Baha’u’llah  (‘The Kitab-i-Iqan’)

Attitude to maintain when explaining something...

In accordance with the divine teachings in this glorious dispensation we should not belittle anyone and call him ignorant, saying: 'You know not, but I know’. Rather, we should look upon others with respect, and when attempting to explain and demonstrate, we should speak as if we are investigating the truth, saying: 'Here these things are before us. Let us investigate to determine where and in what form the truth can be found.’ 

- Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’)

We have no priests in the Baha’i Faith

The believers must be encouraged to teach individually in their own homes. Baha’u’llah has enjoined upon the Baha'is the sacred obligation of teaching. We have no priests, therefore the service once rendered by priests to their religion is the service every single Baha'i is expected to render individually to his religion. He must be the one who enlightens new souls, confirms them, heals the wounded and the weary upon the road of life, and gives them to quaff from the chalice of everlasting life -- the knowledge of the Manifestation of God in His Day. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of the Benelux Countries, July 5, 1957; compilation: ‘The Individual and Teaching’)

Prejudice

Baha'u'llah tells us that prejudice in its various forms destroys the edifice of humanity. We are adjured by the Divine Messenger to eliminate all forms of prejudice from our lives. Our outer lives must show forth our beliefs. The world must see that, regardless of each passing whim or current fashion of the generality of mankind, the Baha'i lives his life according to the tenets of his Faith. We must not allow the fear of rejection by our friends and neighbours to deter us from our goal: to live the Baha'i life. Let us strive to blot out from our lives every last trace of prejudice -- racial, religious, political, economic, national, tribal, class, cultural, and that which is based on differences of education or age. We shall be distinguished from our non-Baha'i associates if our lives are adorned with this principle. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a message dated 13 July 1972 addressed to all National Spiritual Assemblies; ‘Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986’)

A “period of intense turmoil and wide-spread suffering”

“The heights,” Bahá’u’lláh Himself testifies, “which, through the most gracious favor of God, mortal man can attain in this Day are as yet unrevealed to his sight. The world of being hath never had, nor doth it yet possess, the capacity for such a revelation. The day, however, is approaching when the potentialities of so great a favor will, by virtue of His behest, be manifested unto men.”

For the revelation of so great a favor a period of intense turmoil and wide-spread suffering would seem to be indispensable. Resplendent as has been the Age that has witnessed the inception of the Mission with which Bahá’u’lláh has been entrusted, the interval which must elapse ere that Age yields its choicest fruit must, it is becoming increasingly apparent, be overshadowed by such moral and social gloom as can alone prepare an unrepentant humanity for the prize she is destined to inherit. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a message dated 8 February 1934, printed as ‘The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah’ in ‘The World Order of Baha'u'llah’)

The Will and Testament of ‘Abdu’l-Baha

 'Abdu'l-Baha… may be said to have closed the Age to which He Himself belonged and opened the one in which we are now labouring. His Will and Testament should thus be regarded as the perpetual, the indissoluble link which the mind of Him Who is the Mystery of God has conceived in order to insure the continuity of the three ages that constitute the component parts of the Baha'i Dispensation. The period in which the seed of the Faith had been slowly germinating is thus intertwined both with the one which must witness its efflorescence and the subsequent age in which that seed will have finally yielded its golden fruit. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a message dated 8 February 1934, printed as ‘The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah’ in ‘The World Order of Baha'u'llah’)

‘Abdu’l-Baha

'Abdu'l-Baha… incarnates an institution for which we can find no parallel whatsoever in any of the world's recognized religious systems… 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a message dated 8 February 1934, printed as ‘The Dispensation of Baha'u'llah’ in ‘The World Order of Baha'u'llah’)

The “ultimate aim in life of every soul”

The House of Justice hopes that all the friends will remember that the ultimate aim in life of every soul should be to attain spiritual excellence - to win the good pleasure of God. The true spiritual station of any soul is known only to God. It is quite a different thing from the ranks and stations that men and women occupy in the various sectors of society. Whoever has his eyes fixed on the goal of attaining the good pleasure of God will accept with joy and radiant acquiescence whatever work or station is assigned to him in the Cause of God, and will rejoice to serve Him under all conditions. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 27 March 1978 written on behalf of the Universal House to all National Spiritual Assemblies; compilation: Lights of Guidance)

A major objective of training institutes

A major object of the recent emphasis on establishing training institutes is to increase the capacity of individuals to teach the Cause effectively. Study circles, which are local extensions of an institute, are intended to serve this purpose. While it is highly desirable to include seekers in study circles wherever possible, the individual believer retains the inescapable duty to teach the Faith on his or her own initiative. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 31 October 2002 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice to an individual believer)

To “shun whatsoever may be the cause of remoteness from God”

Whatsoever driveth thee away from the one true God and shutteth thee out from the Best Beloved is blameworthy and reprehensible, whilst everything that draweth thee nigh unto Him is acceptable and praiseworthy. One must consider matters with the eye of discernment, shun whatsoever may be the cause of remoteness from God, and awaken to all that is the source of nearness and illumination. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet, compilation: ‘Give Me Thy Grace to Serve Thy Loved Ones’, prepared by the International Teaching Center for the Continental Counsellors and their Auxiliaries, 2018)

The Qur'an

In regard to your question concerning the authenticity of the Qur'an. I have referred it to the Guardian for his opinion. He thinks that the Qur'an is, notwithstanding the opinion of certain historians, quite authentic, and that consequently it should be considered in its entirety by every faithful and loyal believer as the sacred scriptures of the Muhammadan Revelation. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated July 6, 1934 written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; compilation: ‘Holy Scriptures of previous Dispensations’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice and accompanied a letter dated January 1, 1981 written on behalf of the Universal House of Justice)

“look at me, follow me, be as I am”

Another commandment I give unto you, that ye love one another even as I love you. Great mercy and blessings are promised to the people of your land, but on one condition; that their hearts be filled with the fire of love, that they live in perfect harmony and kindness like one soul in different bodies, like one soul in different bodies. Never forget this; look at one another with the eye of perfection; look at me, follow me, be as I am; take no thought for yourselves or your lives, whether ye eat or whether ye sleep, whether ye are comfortable, whether ye are well or ill, whether ye are with friends or foes, whether ye receive praise or blame; for all these things ye must care not at all. Look at me and be as I am; ye must die to yourselves and to the world, so ye shall be born again and enter the kingdom of heaven. Behold the candle, how it gives light. It weeps its life away drop by drop in order to give forth its flame of light. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (Farewell words of ‘Abdu’l-Baha to the First Party of American Pilgrims, Acca, 1898; Star of the West, vol. 12, no. 16, December 31, 1921; Baha'i Scriptures; also in ‘An Early Pilgrimage’, by May Maxwell)

Greater and Lesser Covenants

…the Greater Covenant which every Manifestation of God makes with His followers, promising that in the fulness of time a new Manifestation will be sent, and taking from them the undertaking to accept Him when this occurs. … the Lesser Covenant that a Manifestation of God makes with His followers that they will accept His appointed successor after Him. If they do so, the Faith can remain united and pure. If not, the Faith becomes divided and its force spent. It is a Covenant of this kind that Bahá'u'lláh made with His followers regarding 'Abdu'l-Bahá and that 'Abdu'l-Bahá perpetuated through the Administrative Order... 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 23 March 1975, to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Covenant)

Covenant – “a binding agreement between God and man”

A Covenant in the religious sense is a binding agreement between God and man, whereby God requires of man certain behaviour in return for which He guarantees certain blessings, or whereby He gives man certain bounties in return for which He takes from those who accept them an undertaking to behave in a certain way. 

- The Universal House of Justice  (From a letter dated 23 March 1975, to an individual believer; The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, Covenant)

Will souls recognize each other after death?

As to the question whether the souls will recognize each other in the spiritual world: This (fact) is certain; for the Kingdom is the world of vision (i.e., things are visible in it), where all the concealed realities will become disclosed. How much more the well-known souls will become manifest. The mysteries of which man is heedless in this earthly world, those will he discover in the heavenly world, and there will he be informed of the secret of truth; how much more will he recognize or discover persons with whom he hath been associated. Undoubtedly, the holy souls who find a pure eye and are favored with insight will, in the kingdom of lights, be acquainted with all mysteries, and will seek the bounty of witnessing the reality of every great soul. Even they will manifestly behold the Beauty of God in that world. Likewise will they find all the friends of God, both those of the former and recent times, present in the heavenly assemblage. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 1’)

Soul & Body

The soul pervadeth throughout the whole body, and its commands are effective in all the parts and limbs of man. Notwithstanding its utmost sanctification (or abstraction) this soul is manifest and evident in all its grades, in this material form. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (‘Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, vol. 1)

Leading “people to God's path” “through the instrumentality” of one’s business

The friends of God should, through the instrumentality of their business, lead the people to God's path, and make them so astonished as to exclaim: "How great is their truthfulness, how high their trustworthiness, and how true their good-will." 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (From a Tablet; compilation ‘Professions - Merchants’, prepared by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice)

The “very essence of the principle of independent investigation of truth”

It is hoped that all the Bahá'í students will ... be led to investigate and analyse the principles of the Faith and to correlate them with the modern aspects of philosophy and science. Every intelligent and thoughtful young Bahá'í should always approach the Cause in this way, for therein lies the very essence of the principle of independent investigation of truth. 

- Shoghi Effendi  (From a letter dated 6 August 1933, on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer; Compilation: ‘Science and Technology’, compiled by Research Department of the Universal House of Justice and attached to a Memorandum from the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice, dated 13-August 1997)   

Selflessness

The heart must be sanctified from every form of selfishness and lust, for the weapons of the unitarians and the saints were and are the fear of God. That is the buckler which guardeth man from the arrows of hatred and abomination. Unceasingly hath the standard of piety been victorious, and accounted amongst the most puissant hosts of the world. Thereby do the saints subdue the cities of [men’s] hearts by the permission of God, the Lord of hosts.

- Baha’u’llah  (Quoted by ‘Abdu’l-Baha in ‘A Traveler’s Narrative’)

An assignment for youth from ‘Abdu’l-Baha

... O ye illumined youth, strive by night and by day to unravel the mysteries of the mind and spirit, and to grasp the secrets of the Day of God. Inform yourselves of the evidences that the Most Great Name hath dawned. 

- ‘Abdu’l-Baha  (The Compilation of Compilations, vol. I, The Importance of Deepening Our Knowledge and Understanding of the Faith)