Bahá'í wiki quotes
From Bahai9
This page is for quotes from the Bahá'í Writings which seem particularly apt for encouraging our use of wiki technology:
Multiplicity as greatest factor for coordination
"...multiplicity is the greatest factor for coordination."
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, sec. 225, p. 291)
Gathering the verses of God into excellent order
"Spiritual souls will assuredly emerge from behind the veil of divine protection who will gather together the tokens and verses of God and put them into the most excellent order."
- (Shoghi Effendi's 1954 Naw-Ruz Message to the Baha'is of the East, translated from the Persian; quoted in Lights of Guidance, no. 327)
Helping along one another's projects and plans
"Help along one another's projects and plans."
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Consultation (compilation), no. 19 )
"GOD LOVETH THOSE WHO WORK IN GROUPS"
"O ye friends of God! Today is the day of union and this age is the age of harmony in the world of existence. "Verily, God loveth those who are working in His path in groups, for they are a solid foundation." Consider ye that he says "in groups," united and bound together, supporting one another. "To work," mentioned in this holy verse, does not mean, in this greatest age, to perform it with swords, spears, shafts and arrows, but rather with sincere intentions, good designs, useful advices, divine moralities, beautiful actions, spiritual qualities, educating the public, guiding the souls of mankind, diffusing spiritual fragrances, explaining divine illustrations, showing convincing proofs and doing charitable deeds. When the holy souls, through the angelic power, will arise to show forth these celestial characteristics, establishing a band of harmony, each of these souls shall be regarded as one thousand persons and the waves of this greatest ocean shall be considered as the army of the hosts of the Supreme Concourse.
"What a great blessing it is when the torrents, streams, currents, tides, and drops are all gathered in one place! They will form a great ocean and the real harmony shall overcome and reign in such a manner that all the rules, laws, distinctions and differences of the imaginations of these souls shall disappear and vanish like little drops and shall be submerged in the ocean of spiritual unity. By the Ancient Beauty, in this case and condition, the blessings of the great ocean will overflow and canals shall become as spacious as an endless ocean and each drop shall become as a boundless sea!
"O ye friends of God! Strive to attain to this high and sublime station and show forth such a brightness in these days that its radiance may appear from the eternal horizons. This is the real foundation of the Cause of God; this is the essence of the divine doctrine; this is the cause of the revelation of the heavenly Scriptures; this is the means of the appearanCe of the Sun of the divine world; this is the way of the establishment of God upon the bodily throne."
- ('Abdu'l-Bahá, Bahá'í World Faith, pp. 401-402)
The Interconnectedness of all things
"Fundamentally all existing things pass through the same degrees and phases of development, and any given phenomenon embodies all others. An ancient statement of the Arabian philosophers declares that all things are involved in all things. It is evident that each material organism is an aggregate expression of single and simple elements, and a given cellular element or atom has its coursings or journeyings through various and myriad stages of life."
The Interconnectedness of the Teachings
"Shoghi Effendi has for years urged the Bahá'ís (who asked his advice, and in general also) to study history, economics, sociology, etc., in order to be au courant with all the progressive movements and thoughts being put forth today, and so that they could correlate these to the Bahá'í teachings. What he wants the Bahá'ís to do is to study more, not to study less. The more general knowledge, scientific and otherwise, they possess, the better. Likewise he is constantly urging them to really study the Bahá'í teachings more deeply. One might liken Bahá'u'lláh's teachings to a sphere; there are points poles apart, and in between the thoughts and doctrines that unite them. We believe in balance in all things; we believe in moderation in all things -- we must not be too emotional, nor cut and dried and lacking in feeling, we must not be so liberal as to cease to preserve the character and unity of our Bahá'í system, nor fanatical and dogmatic."
- (5 July 1947, on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, in Science and Technology (compilation), no. 7)
Baha'is should be the first to take up new and excellent methods
"The Baha'is should not always be the last to take up new and obviously excellent methods, but rather the first, as this agrees with the dynamic nature of the Faith which is not only progressive, but holds within itself the seeds of an entirely new culture and civilization."
- (Shoghi Effendi, 5 May 1946 to an individual believer, Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-86, sec. 162.49, p. 313)
