Attitude towards oneself and others

Be very demanding with yourself and expect few from others, thus you will prevent yourself from getting into many troubles.

~ Confucius

Others can raise our spirits or depress us

There are persons with whom we associate and converse whose utterances are life-imparting, joy-giving. The withered and faded are refreshed, the joyless become happy, the extinct become enkindled and the lifeless are quickened with the breaths of the Holy Spirit. The one drowned in the sea of hesitation and doubt is saved by the life-boat of certainty and assurance; the one attached to this material world becomes severed and the one steeped in blameworthy deeds is adorned with praiseworthy attributes. On the other hand there are some persons whose very respiration extinguishes the light of faith; whose conversation weakens firmness and steadfastness in the Cause of God; whose company diverts one's attention from the kingdom of Abha.

~ Attributed to 'Abdu'l-Baha, Fire and Gold, Benefiting from Life's Tests, Brian Kurzius, p.84-85

The perfect human sentiments and virtues

You live to do good and to bring happiness to others.

~ 'Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 112

The greatest happiness can only be found in the happiness of others.

~ Baha'u'llah, the Divine Art of Living

Inspiring quote from Sir Winston Churchill

Success consists in going from chess to chess, without losing one's enthusiasm.

~ Sir Winston Churchill

Guidances

Man must always associate with those from whom he can get light, or be with those to whom he can give light. He must either receive or give instructions. Otherwise, being with people without these two intentions, he is spending his time for nothing, and, by so doing, he is neither gaining nor causing others to gain.

~ 'Abdu'l-Baha, Misc Baha'i, The Diary of Juliet Thompson

Dynamics of prayer

While in Haifa, the beloved Guardian of the Cause gave to the writer (Mrs Ruth Moffat), the most concise, complete, and effective formula she has ever seen, for the Dynamics of Prayer. After saying to stress the need of more prayers and meditation among the friends, he said to use these five steps if we had a problem of any kind for which we desired a solution or wished help.

First Step. - Pray and meditate about it. Use the prayers of the Manifestations as they have the greatest power. Then remain in the silence of contemplation for a few minutes.

Second Step. - Arrive at a decision and hold this. This decision is usually born during the contemplation. It may seem almost impossible of accomplishment but if it seems to be as answer to a prayer or a way of solving the problem, then immediately take the next step.

Third Step. - Have determination to carry the decision through.
Many fail here. The decision, budding into determination, is blighted and instead becomes a wish or a vague longing. When determination is born, immediately take the next step.

Fourth Step. - Have faith and confidence that the power will flow through you, the right way will appear, the door will open, the right thought, the right message, the right principle or the right book will be given you. Have confidence, and the right thing will come to your need. Then, as you rise from prayer, take at once the fifth step.

Fifth Step. - Then, he said, lastly, ACT; Act as though it had all been answered. Then act with tireless, ceaseless energy. And as you act, you, yourself, will become a magnet, which will attract more power to your being, until you become an unobstructed channel for the Divine power to flow through you. Many pray but do not remain for the last half of the first step. Some who meditate arrive at a decision, but fail to hold it. Few have the determination to carry the decision through, still fewer have the confidence that the right thing will come to their need. But how many remember to act as though it had all been answered? How true are those words - "Greater than the prayer is the spirit in which it is uttered" and greater than the way it is uttered is the spirit in which it is carried out.

~ Selected Statements and Special Documents Prepared by the National Spiritual Assembly, (Compilations, Principles of Bahai Administration, p. 91)

Four qualities which the Blessed Beauty [Baha'u'llah] loved to see manifested in people

The Blessed Beauty [Bahá’u’lláh] often remarked:
"There are four qualities which I love to see manifested in people:
first, enthusiasm and courage;
second, a face wreathed in smiles and a radiant countenance;
third, that they see with their own eyes and not through the eyes of others;
fourth, the ability to carry a task once begun, through to its end."

~ Stories of Bahá'u'lláh, Furútan, `Alí-Akbar (editor), 1986

Spirituality: the best religion

The best religion is the one that gets you closest to God. It is the one that makes you a better person.

Whatever makes you
more compassionate,
more sensible,
more detached,
more loving,
more humanitarian,
more responsible,
more ethical.

The religion that will do that for you is the best religion.

I am not interested, my friend, about your religion or if you are religious or not.

What really is important to me is your behavior towards your peers, family, work, community, and towards the world.

Remember, the universe is the echo of our actions and our thoughts.

The law of action and reaction is not exclusively for Physics. It is also of human relations.

If I act with goodness, I will receive goodness.
If I act with evil, I will get evil.
You will have what you desire for others.
Being happy is not a matter of destiny.
It is a matter of options.

Take care of your thoughts because they become words.
Take care of your words because they become actions.
Take care of your actions because they become habits.
Take care of your habits because they will form your character.
Take care of your character because it will form your destiny,
and your destiny will be your life.

...and...

There is no religion higher than the truth.

~ Adapted from an interview to the Dalai Lama

Happiness and serenity

When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everybody will respect you.
~ Lao Tzu

Once Buddha was walking from one town to another town with a few of his followers. This was in the initial days. While they were traveling, they happened to pass a lake. They stopped there and Buddha told one of his disciples, "I am thirsty. Do get me some water from that lake there."

The disciple walked up to the lake. When he reached it, he noticed that right at that moment, a bullock cart started crossing through the lake. As a result, the water became very muddy, very turbid. The disciple thought, "How can I give this muddy water to Buddha to drink!"

So he came back and told Buddha, "The water in there is very muddy. I don't think it is fit to drink." After about half an hour, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back to the lake and get him some water to drink. The disciple obediently went back to the lake.

This time too he found that the lake was muddy. He returned and informed Buddha about the same. After sometime, again Buddha asked the same disciple to go back. The disciple reached the lake to find the lake absolutely clean and clear with pure water in it. The mud had settled down and the water above it looked fit to be had. So he collected some water in a pot and brought it to Buddha.

Buddha looked at the water, and then he looked up at the disciple and said," See what you did to make the water clean. You let it be... and the mud settled down on its own - and you got clear water. Your mind is also like that! When it is disturbed, just let it be. Give it a little time. It will settle down on its own. You don't have to put in any effort to calm it down. It will happen. It is effortless.

Mind precedes its objects. They are mind-governed and mind-made. To speak or act with a peaceful mind, is to draw happiness after oneself, like an inseparable shadow.

~ Buddhist, Dhammapada - Sayings of the Buddha 1 (tr. J. Richards)

Conquer yourself

"Shoghi Effendi was a very remarkable young man, and of course he just worshipped 'Abdu'l-Baha. And when 'Abdu'l-Baha pass away, the whole world became dark for him. All light had gone out. When he returned to the Holy Land, he had in mind, from the things which 'Abdu'l-Baha had said to him and I am now telling you what he said he said, 'I had in mind that 'Abdu'l-Baha would give me the honor of calling together the great conclave which would elect the Universal House of Justice. And I thought in His Will and Testament that that was probably what He was instructing be done.'

"'But,' he said, 'instead of that I found that I was appointed the Guardian of the Cause of God I didn't want to be the Guardian of the Cause. [In the] first place, I didn't think that I was worthy. Next place, I didn't want to face these responsibilities I didn't want to be the Guardian. I knew what it meant. I knew that my life as a human being was over.' He said, 'I didn't want it and I didn't want to face it.'

"'So remember I left the Holy Land, and I went up into the mountains of Switzerland, and I fought with myself until I conquered myself. Then I came back and I turned myself over to God and I was the Guardian.' 'Now,' he said, 'every Baha'i in the world, every person in the world has to do exactly that same thing. Whether you are a Hand of the Cause, whether you are a Knight of Baha'u'llah, whether you are a member of a National Assembly, whether you are a teacher, whether you are a pioneer, whether you are an administrator, regardless of what you are, whatever you are doing in the Cause, every Baha'i must fight with himself and conquer himself. And when he has conquered himself, then he becomes a true instrument for the service of the Cause of God and not until that. And he will not achieve as great a success until he has done it. And this is what every Baha'i in the world should know.'

"And this is one of the main things I want you to get out of this talk tonight and bear out of this talk: the Guardian's instructions that every individual must fight with himself, must conquer himself, must overcome his lower nature, must overcome himself, and turn himself over to God so that the Holy Spirit can function through you. And when the Holy Spirit functions through you then you will gain victory after victory. Because the Holy Spirit is the creative aspect of God and it cannot do other than win victories and make successes for the Cause."

~ From a talk given by Hand of the Cause of God Leroy Ioas, In the Days of the Guardian

What is Love ?

Love is the mystery of divine revelations!

Love is the effulgent manifestation!

Love is the spiritual fulfillment!

Love is the light of the Kingdom!

Love is the breath of the Holy Spirit inspired into the human spirit!

Love is the cause of the manifestation of the Truth (God) in the phenomenal world!

Love is the necessary tie proceeding from the realities of things through divine creation!

Love is the means of the most great happiness in both the material and spiritual worlds!

Love is a light of guidance in the dark night!

Love is a bond between the Creator and the creature in the inner world!

Love is the cause of development to every enlightened man!

Love is the greatest law in this vast universe of God!

Love is the one law which causeth and controlleth order among the existing atoms!

Love is the universal magnetic power between the planets and stars shining in the lofty firmament!

Love is the cause of unfoldment to a searching mind, of the secrets deposited in the universe by the Infinite!

Love is the spirit of life in the bountiful body of the world!

Love is the cause of the civilization of nations in this mortal world!

Love is the highest honor to every righteous nation!

~ Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 526

What is the purpose of religion ?

"Alas that humanity is completely submerged in imitations and unrealities, notwithstanding that the truth of divine religion has ever remained the same. Superstitions have obscured the fundamental reality, the world is darkened ... rites and dogmas are many and various; therefore, discord has arisen among the religious systems, whereas religion is for the unification of mankind. True religion is the source of love and agreement amongst men ... but the people are holding to the counterfeit and imitations ... Therefore, the realm of the religionist has gradually narrowed and darkened, and the sphere of the materialist has widened and advanced; for the religionist has held to imitation and counterfeit, neglecting and discarding holiness and the sacred reality of religion. When the sun sets, it is the time for bats to fly. They come forth because they are creatures of the night. When the lights of religion become darkened, the materialists appear. They are the bats of night. The decline of religion is their time of activity; they seek the shadows when the world is darkened and clouds have spread over it."

'Abdu'l-Baha, 'Promulgation of World Peace', pp. 179-80


"People think religion is confined to an edifice, to be worshipped at an altar. In reality it is an attitude toward divinity which is reflected through life. The confirmations of the Spirit come to that man or woman who accepts his life with radiant acquiescence. Release comes by making of the will a door through which the confirmations of the Spirit come. By religion we mean those necessary bonds which unify the world of humanity. This has ever been the essence of religion, for this object have all the Manifestations come to the world. Alas! that the leaders of religion afterwards have abandoned this solid foundation and have fabricated a set of blind dogmas and rituals which are at complete variance with the foundation of divine religion."

'Abdu'l-Baha, 'Baha'i Scriptures', p.438


"Universal benefits derive from the grace of the Divine religions, for they lead their true followers to sincerity of intent, to high purpose, to purity and spotless honour, to surpassing kindness and compassion, to the keeping of their covenanted, to concern for the rights of others, to liberality, to justice in every aspect of life, to humanity and philanthropy, to valour and to unflagging efforts in the service of mankind."

'Abdu'l-Baha, 'Secret of Divine Civilization', p. 98