The following was written in response to the question, “Is there a simple description of the “Bahá'í Cause” that you could share with us?” A short answer could be “building the foundations for a new, glorious, world-embracing civilization”. However, short does not always mean simple, so for fear of being misconstrued, and for the sake of clarity, I would like to give a longer answer for any of you who might be interested.
I have asked many diverse groups of people to describe the world as it is today, in comparison to the way it was 150 years ago. Usually they start out with all the negative things, like war, drug abuse, corruption, violence, power struggles, consumerism, extremes of wealth and poverty, etc. which I note in the left-hand column.
But as they dig deeper, they start to uncover many positive things, like movements for peace, ecology, a search for new values, local self-determination, equality of men and women, universal education, etc. which I note to the right.
I then draw two curves, one downward and the other upward, which cross each other in the middle between the two columns, explaining that what we are witnessing is a double process: that of the decline, disintegration and final death of an old world on the one hand, and the simultaneous arising, integration and birth of a new world, on the other. I point out that at this very moment we are entering the vortex of that storm - a critical juncture caused by the confluence of these two tendencies that are blowing across the face of the world like a gigantic whirlwind, cleansing it and inaugurating a new era.
Now, if this were an isolated incident, there would be very little we could know about why it is happening and what we can do about it. Actually, though, it is a phenomenon that has occurred many times before, whenever an old civilization has declined and a new one has arisen to take its place. The fact that a repetitive pattern is observable means that we can objectively analyze its essential elements, foresee its probable outcomes, bridle and utilize its strength, and even to a certain extent influence its trajectory.
Throughout mankind’s recorded history, some 27 civilizations (a term not to be confused with “empires”) are known to have been born, arisen to the heights of arts, science and prosperity, and then declined, leaving behind the lessons learned, much like a tree that sprouts from the seed, grows to maturity, and then gradually dies away, leaving behind its fruits.
Certain authors, working within a mechanistic paradigm, and thus lacking a systemic approach, have suggested the cause of this phenomenon to be material wealth, political skill, military prowess, the assimilation of other cultures, etc. However, later analyses of their common elements have shown these things to have occurred centuries later, during their respective golden ages, not at the very beginning of the process.
So what has been the true seed of these civilizations? Although the secondary circumstances of their births have been highly diverse, one factor is found to be constant throughout: a handful of people has arisen with a new Vision, a new way of thinking and acting, to challenge the corrupt values, common beliefs and established institutions of the day, and to bring about an inner revolution, the outward result of which is the birth of a new civilization. As Margaret Mead put it, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. In fact, that is the only thing that has ever been able to change it.”
This “creative minority” grows in strength and influence as troops of stalwart supporters rally ‘round the clarion call of its words and example. They are willing to face with love and radiance the rejection, vicissitudes, and eventually outright persecution rained upon them from the powers-that-be in their desperate attempt to preserve the status quo, fully aware that “every truth goes through three stages: first it is ridiculed, then violently opposed, and finally accepted as obvious,” as Arthur Schopenhauer phrased it, and that the blood, sweat and tears they shed will only serve to water this new tree, causing it to grow stronger more rapidly.
Eventually the masses are softened by the growing heat of the suffering caused by the disintegration of the old civilization and the increasing signs of its impotence to solve the issues of the day, while the new World Vision demonstrates once and again its vitality. They become receptive to this new way of thinking and acting, until it reaches a “critical mass” and becomes the new standard.
The entire fiber of society becomes infused with a CONVICTION (number one Western 20th Century dirty word) as to who they are, where they are coming from and where they are going, a consequent COMMITMENT (number two WXXC dirty word) to the “cause” of making that new Vision take form in tangible ways, out of a sense of RESPONSIBILITY (number three WXXC dirty word) to the past, present and future generations, thus bringing about the self-discipline required to sacrifice their immediate, individual wants and desires for a greater good for all.
This inner transformation gives way to outer changes. The roots of the young sapling push deeply into the fertile soil of the heart of the masses, finding rich nourishment there, and enabling the strong branches of arts and sciences to stretch upwards, overshadowing all the land with their foliage. Then, and only then, do the fairest fruits of material prosperity make their appearance, which historians later recognize as the beginning of that civilization’s “golden age”, seemingly oblivious of the fact that the epitome of true civilization had already run its course and was about to start its decline.
For it is at this point when an abundance of material civilization leads the new generations to put love for wealth and power above all else, seeking them as an end in themselves, and not as tools for scaling to ever greater heights of human achievement. They grow careless of their forefathers’ Vision, distorting its purpose. The elites turn it and all it engendered into a source of power plays and division, while the masses admire the outer container and forget its inner contents, relegating it to a mere tradition, and finally scorning and rejecting it as useless or even harmful. Content with harvesting the fruits of their forebears’ toil, they relax the nerves of discipline and abandon the task of first sowing the inward wealth that produces outward prosperity.
The inner emptiness left by their rejection of what is true and good leaves within them a gaping chasm, a gnawing hunger, which they attempt to fill by an ever-growing consumption of the goods and pleasures born of material civilization. Corruption, crime and violence become rampant, and the status quo once again becomes the citadel of the powers-that-be. Society crystallizes into an inflexibility that limits its ability to evolve normally and adapt to changes in its internal and external environment. As its day draws to an end, a now old civilization gradually slips into the darkness of ignorance and the chill of self-centeredness.
But where does the original “creative minority” get its new Vision from in the first place? Most “dissidents” simply react against the evils and excesses of their time, offering little if anything to replace them. In the worst cases, the remedies they prescribe only aggravate the disease, and in the best cases their influence is limited and eventually dies away and is forgotten. In contrast, the influence of that small handful of proactive souls that sparks the birth of a new world, generally outlives even the civilization they lay the foundations of! Why?
There is another phenomenon, immeasurably greater and more wondrous than the awesome transition it brings about, that can be traced as occurring immediately prior to the rise of each of the world’s greatest civilizations, whether Jewish or Sabean, Hindu or Buddhist, Zoroastrian or Christian, Islamic or others less well-known. In the midst of the darkest, coldest time and place of that night of popularized, institutionalized ignorance and self-centeredness, a Child is born! This event is so transcendental that it is celebrated for centuries, even millennia afterwards, for this Child is destined to be the dawning-place of the Sun of a new day, spreading once again the light of knowledge and the warmth of love over all the earth.
The outer circumstances of this birth are varied, but the essential characteristics of that Child are quite similar: an over-riding concern for, and occupation with, the well-being and happiness of others, a precocious knowledge far beyond the ken of the wisest of that time. The eloquence and depth of this Child’s words and the loving perfection of His example inspire an immense love in hearts that are pure, and a jealous hatred in others. This Child, having reached youth, arises to proclaim His mission as the true Physician, Regenerator, Teacher and Civilizer of the world, and gathers around Him that small handful of souls to champion His Cause.
Together, they start a conflagration of social change that spreads like wildfire and eventually sets ablaze the world. They eagerly receive, with radiant acquiescence, all the difficulties that arise in their path, willingly allowing themselves to be hated and despised so that the world might learn to love, to be enchained and imprisoned so that others might be set free from the prison of self, to sacrifice the comforts of a home and family life so that generations of families might find peace, to live out their lives in the utmost poverty so that others might find true prosperity, to be made refugees in exile from their native lands, so that mankind might return to its true home, and to be beaten, tortured and even publicly executed so that others might live in tranquility.
No other force on earth is greater than the love that this Child inspires into the masses of humanity, the wisdom that flows from Him like water from a spring, and the untold treasures of human potential that He mines. Once again, this is not a matter of belief or faith, blind or otherwise, but has all the characteristics of an objective phenomenon, which has repeated itself periodically, regularly, from time immemorial, and as such is subject to analysis, is predictable, and can be taken advantage of wisely for the advancement of society (or otherwise, as history has also shown). To lightly brush aside such a world-shaking, world-changing phenomenon would be extremely irresponsible and unscientific, and could only be attributed to minds that cling dearly to the safe, comfortable little paradigms we build for ourselves, instead of facing up bravely to a sincere, wholehearted search for truth.
Coming closer now to the specific question about the Bahá'í Cause, on November 12, 1817, in the midst of the darkest period and place of that nighttime from which the world is still struggling to emerge, a Child was born! The rest is history, a wondrous, glorious history that is still in the making and that beckons us to learn of it and then arise to become a part of it. It is in loving service to the Cause of this dear Child that growing millions have dedicated their lives in the hopes of returning what little they can of what He has so graciously bestowed upon them, of carrying out some small act that might meet with His good pleasure.
It reminds me a little of the movie “Rescuing Private Ryan”, where with his dying breath, Cap. John H. Miller, who lead the rescue mission, says “Earn this, James, earn it!” And private Ryan, looking back many years later, responds, “Every day I think of what you said to me that day on the bridge. I’ve tried to live my life the best I could, and hope it was enough. I hope that, at least in your eyes, I’ve earned what all of you have done for me.”
(December 24, 1998)
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