Material progress: what makes advancement humane?

Regarding the canal, this deed is most acceptable and beloved, and the friends of the Merciful must strive with heart and soul in the development and prosperity of the world so that they may become the manifestation of divine mercy in all degrees, and this movement will become the cause of bounty and blessing.

O friends of God! Think not that since this world is fleeting, therefore imperfection and perfection, success and failure, ascent and descent, progress and decline are equal. God forbid! The All-Merciful in the text of the Qur'an declares: "Our Lord! Grant us good in this world and good in the world to come." Thus it is clear and evident that both spiritual and material progress and perfection are desired and beloved, especially since all progress, even physical, is indicative of divine bounties.

When characters are improved, sciences and arts flourish; minds become vastly enlightened; hearts are filled with truthfulness and trustworthiness, with zeal, devotion, and determination; statesmanship attaineth its highest degree; new industries become widespread; commerce is expanded; and courage and audacity raise aloft their banner. The nation passeth from one condition to another. It becometh a new creation, and the verse "Blessed, therefore, be God, the most excellent of Makers!" is realized.

Through justice commerce thrives, industries are developed, morals are refined, honesty is established, international comity fostered and education popularized.

In times gone by progress on the material plane was not so rapid, neither was there bloodshed in such profusion. In ancient warfare there were no cannons, no guns, no dynamite, no shells, no torpedo boats, no battleships, no submarines. Now, owing to material civilization, we have all these inventions, and war goes from bad to worse!

'Abdu'l-Baha: "It will progress to such a degree that any one can travel with them. The danger will become less and less. It will be such that one wishing to travel, instead of going by carriage or automobile, he will take the aeroplane. God willing, it will be directed for good purposes. At present it is used for destructive purposes. We hoped the aeroplane would serve the world of humanity, but it has become the means of destruction for the world of humanity.

If we review history, we will observe that human advancement has been greatest in the development of material virtues. Civilization is the sign and evidence of this progression. Throughout the world, material civilization has attained truly wonderful heights and degrees of efficiency -- that is to say, the outward powers and virtues of man have greatly developed, but the inner and ideal virtues have been correspondingly delayed and neglected.

Yes, in the regions of the West divine civilization is necessary because material civilization has greatly progressed and increases day by day. But spiritual civilization has been neglected.

Therefore, O friends of the Ancient Beauty and O fellow-citizens of the Greatest Name, strive that you may make tremendous progress in all ranks, both spiritual and material.

The Blessed Beauty has commanded in all Tablets the acquisition of beneficial sciences, expansion of commerce, advancement of industry, increase of agriculture, and attention to the development of the country, for civilization is among the fundamental principles of the Law of God - but religious civilization, not material civilization.

Strive for modern progress and make mighty efforts for sacred civilization.

Similarly, strive and make effort in promoting industries and discovering new inventions, expanding the scope of commerce and industry, establishing the customs of civilization, adorning the country, showing complete obedience and submission to the government, and avoiding any trace of corruption.

Another characteristic of progress consists in the earnest and sincere development of public education, in the teaching of all the useful sciences and in encouraging the people to adopt the modern inventions, in extending the spheres of arts and commerce, and endeavoring to induce them to adopt the methods by which the country may be enriched.

They are always looking for results. It seems that the very convolutions and cells of their brains direct their powers in those channels of arts, industries and inventions which alleviate the sufferings of mankind and bring about better conditions.

Now observe that it is education that brings East and West under man's dominion, produces all these marvellous crafts, promotes these mighty arts and sciences, and gives rise to these new discoveries and undertakings.

Through education the ignorant become learned, the cowardly become courageous, the crooked branch becomes straight, the acrid and bitter fruit of the mountains and woods becomes sweet and succulent, and the five-petalled flower puts forth a hundred petals. Through education barbarous nations become civilized and even animals take on human-like manners. Education must be accorded the greatest importance; for just as diseases are highly communicable in the world of bodies, so is character highly communicable in the realm of hearts and spirits.

In advanced countries, despite all the available means of education and training, the wise still strive to find easier and swifter means and to excel in the education and advancement of children.

The American, who is a non-Baha'i himself but has a cousin living in Chicago who is said to be an ardent Baha'i, asks the Master: "Sir, what has the Prophet of the Baha'i Faith ordained about the educational system of the Baha'is?"

The Master: "The Blessed Perfection Baha'u'llah has stressed in all His Holy Writings, in the Kitab-i-Aqdas, in the Ishraqat, in the Kalimat-i-Firdawsiyyih, in the Law?-i-Bisharat etc, in brief in all His glorious Revelations, the necessity for a well-directed educational system for boys and girls, rich and poor. His Blessed Perfection, Baha'u'llah, particularly taught in the sixties of the last century the high value of the educational system for training an efficient class of officials in Persia, in Turkey, in the countries of the East in general. The officials, small and great, higher and lower, are the main pillars of the state. Consider the well-ordered states of the West, like England, Germany, Switzerland etc, to name but a few, they enjoy the blessing of an ordered, educated and dependable class of officials. The leader (old Hardegg, died 1878, Haifa) of the Württemberg colonists in Haifa, once told us during one of his welcome visits in 'Akka that the great statesman of the Germans, Bismarck, is said to have exclaimed: 'The victorious war of 70/71 was actually won by the "German school-master"!' This is a profound statement: 'What the soldier is in war, the official is in peace.' What use is a good Caliph, if from the Vazir down to the lowliest gatekeeper of the palace (janitor) all officials are ignorant and unreliable? Ignorance lets arrogance and corruptibility sprout like weeds. But we need not only lessons and knowledge, we need, even more, education and character training. We Baha'is say: By nature man is not an unalterable entity with bad or good tendencies or with a more positive or more negative mixture of tendencies. The great Rousseau maintained - despite knowledge of his own self (Les Confessions = his famous description of his life) - that man is by nature an uncorrupted being with good qualities, whose education should consist only of guiding and protecting. Instruction was to fill the mind with knowledge, and the character need only be cared for, to keep all obstacles from it, after which one could be sure of an educated, efficient man full of character. It is equally false when the Christian missionaries place the whole emphasis on original sin, consider man as impure and corrupted from the time in the mother's womb, and when they, as the 'instrument of the Almighty', expect all salvation from their schooling and training of the small sinner.

Rather we see, from the plant to man, a certain number of potentialities, powers, of talents which mature and die during their development, which either adapt to the laws of the environment or transcend their environment, overcome it or succumb to it. For example, not all cats are alike, although they belong to the same feline family. One cat develops into the most delightful, tame household pet, another may start out in this direction, but soon it will run wild and become a real wildcat of the woods. Same beginning, unequal development and totally different end.

In training mankind we must especially keep in mind: 1. The inherent capacity of an individual, the hereditary factor, is an unknown entity for the educator and teacher. 2. Not quite so obscure and mysterious are the moulding powers of the environment in which man grows up, in which he - according to the decree of God - was born.

The environment consists of one's home country (ground, climate, water etc). More important is the family, the professional class, the social conditions, degree of communication, in brief the human environment of the child. What we do know of each child, even of a foundling, is the sex and to some extent its constitution. As the teacher is least of all able to judge the heredity, the hereditary factors, of his pupil and will only be able to understand them in the course of many years, he should set his lessons and particularly his educational ways and means according to the goal of education. The goal is to make the child, the human being, into a citizen of the Kingdom of God. A human being with goals beyond the transient will always be a good citizen for the authorities and for his fellow citizens! The ideal man should be at home in two worlds, in the material, earthly home, and in the world of divine thoughts, the eternal goals in the 'Malakut-i-Allah' = in the Kingdom of God. With such education and training, where the real and ideal become equally important, the teacher and educator should continuously consider the factors of the environment (milieu) of the pupil and should nurture and protect him, remove obstacles or put them in place, depending on whether he is to expect salvation or calamity, strengthening or weakening, benefit or damage from the environment of the child. - Thus wills the Blessed Perfection Baha'u'llah! The sun is descending to sea-level, it is time for the third prayer (evening prayer). Allah-u-Abha."

In this day, however, means of communication have multiplied, and the five continents of the earth have virtually merged into one. And for everyone it is now easy to travel to any land, to associate and exchange views with its peoples, and to become familiar, through publications, with the conditions, the religious beliefs and the thoughts of all men.

O servant of Baha! It is related in the traditions that, on the Day of Resurrection, the earth shall be brought near unto itself. Yet they knew not that wondrous industries would make East and West companions, and new discoveries would cause North and South to share each other’s secrets.

On account of rapid means of transportation, distance is annihilated and space has become a negligible quantity. In former times, before the invention of steam and electricity, it took months and months to [get] to London or America but now once can travel around the world in less time than it took many a person to go America two or three hundred years ago.

Truly, if not for railroads and the power of steam, how could these long distances be traversed with such ease? This is one of the miracles of this promised century of our current age.

The progress of the world during the past fifteen hundred years has greatly modified the conditions which prevailed when these teachers were on earth. Man has learned to control the forces of nature and to harness them in his service. All the nations of the world are in constant, easy, and rapid communication: closely united by the telegraph, the telephone, steam and electric locomotion.

The past age was an age of wondrous achievements. All the inventions were perfected, new discoveries created, new fields of human activities, new undertakings gave deeper significance to the law of co-operation; new arts helped to make life more beautiful and new international laws are now in the process of formation to bind all nations of the earth together.

When the American nation united, how much it led to their happiness, progress and civilization. If this unity and agreement did not exist among the United States, this progress in sciences, arts and advancement would not have been achieved.

Think of this subject: What a difference there is between this time we are living in now, and seventy years ago! Think of the progress! the progress toward unity and peace!

The Glorious maturity of this world depends upon the realization of two things: the establishment of the era of Universal Peace and the discovery or appearance of the hidden science which shall renovate all the conditions of existence...

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H.M. "Evolution has now reached a period in the life of nations where commerce takes the place of warfare. Business is war, cruel, merciless."

… Competition of commerce is as severe, trying and as cruel as wars of olden time.

America will make rapid progress in the future but I am fearful of the effects of these high buildings and such densely populated cities; these are not good for the public health.

You answered well that before the appearance of these present inventions, no wise person considered these events possible. Which wise one said it was possible that one day man's vehicle would fly, travelling from city to city through the air? Which wise one said that a day would come when people would communicate with each other without any instrument, merely through aerial waves?

However man has seized the sword from nature and with it is beating nature back. For example, the natural law is for man to remain on earth. Yet, he swims in the sea like a fish or flies in the air like a bird. Or the law of nature is for electricity to flow freely. But we see that man has captured this power in the confines of a bulb. The nature of man is to see for a proscribed distance and to hear only over a limited space. However, man has devised means to observe the heavens above and to communicate with every corner of the globe.

Man is always progressing. His circle of knowledge is ever widening, and his mental activity flows through many and varied channels. Look what man has accomplished in the field of science, consider his many discoveries and countless inventions and his profound understanding of natural law.

In the world of art it is just the same, and this wonderful development of man's faculties becomes more and more rapid as time goes on.

See how, in this day, the scope of sciences and arts hath widened out, and what wondrous technical advances have been made, and to what a high degree the mind's powers have increased, and what stupendous inventions have appeared.

In this radiant age, humanity has made extraordinary progress in every respect. In the world of science, manifold advancements have been achieved, how many hidden realities of creation have been discovered, and the holy power of the mind has unveiled the concealed mysteries and protected truths of the natural world, has broken through the laws of nature, and brought those hidden mysteries from the realm of the unseen into the visible realm.

How much has the world of industry advanced, how much has the scope of inventions expanded!

Consider material things, which are a symbol of spiritual things. For example, all human inventions and material discoveries in early centuries do not compare to a single power of telegraph, phonograph, photography, telephone, electrical power, and wireless communication.

Arts and crafts surged like the sea, and the realities and subtleties of the balanced and perfect nature of things reached their zenith.

Consider how many sciences, arts, discoveries and achievements have come into existence since the days of Moses till the present time through the progress of the human soul in knowledge and perfections.

For example, let us take this room. Cyrus the great King of Persia could not enjoy the luxuries of a room like this. Solomon with all his glories had a mirror like this! (and he took me jokingly before the large mirror and said: look in it!) Solomon had not an automobile but only a wooden carriage, a little gilded. The audience chamber of Alexander the great was not lighted with electricity. Now most everybody enjoys the possession of an automobile or his room is lighted with electricity.

The world of today is not like unto the world of former times. The many wonderful arts and inventions have completely transformed the face of the earth, making life easier and existence more comfortable.

The science of aviation will make great progress in the immediate future and people will travel at ease from one city to another city without any danger. It will become as popular as automobiles.

Just as now every well to do person has an automobile, then they will have an aeroplane.

Columbus was a genius in his time. Consider what world-encircling results appeared from his voyage of discovery! Copernicus, Kepler, Laplace and Newton were all geniuses, and their contributions to the sciences have made them benefactors of humanity? The inventors and discoverers of telegraphy, telephony, electricity, wireless, etc., have all, through their distinguished labors and discoveries made man a monarch over the laws of nature, broadened his vision and freed him from the lower, miserable life of the savage, ever fighting with the beasts of the jungle in order to satisfy his bare wants.

Note thou carefully that in this world of being, all things must ever be made new. Look at the material world about thee, see how it hath now been renewed. The thoughts have changed, the ways of life have been revised, the sciences and arts show a new vigour, discoveries and inventions are new, perceptions are new.

Arts and industries have been reborn, there are new discoveries in science, and there are new inventions; even the details of human affairs, such as dress and personal effects -- even weapons -- all these have likewise been renewed. The laws and procedures of every government have been revised. Renewal is the order of the day.

Humanity has emerged from its former degrees of limitation and preliminary training. Man must now become imbued with new virtues and powers, new moralities, new capacities. New bounties, bestowals and perfections are awaiting and already descending upon him. The gifts and graces of the period of youth, although timely and sufficient during the adolescence of the world of mankind, are now incapable of meeting the requirements of its maturity.

In this luminous century all matters have been renewed: sciences have been renewed, new arts have appeared, new industries have become manifest, new thoughts have emerged, new discoveries have arisen, new inventions have come forth.

These days are the days of youth. These times are the times of Progress. This age is the age of reformation. This epoch is the epoch of rejuvenation! This cycle is the cycle of renovation. This century is the century [of] regeneration. This period is the period of reanimation.

In each age a great, impelling idea has been born and developed. There has been an age of scholasticism and oratory, another age belonging to the development of philosophy and natural sciences. The last age was the age of freedom and the march of democracy throughout many lands.

They have therefore concluded that, for the advancement and progress of the nation, the development of the country, the dignity of its people, the elevation of the government, and the enhancement of its might, religious renewal is necessary.

The sphere of thought is rejuvenated - sciences are renovated. The world of morality is resuscitated - and humankind is ushered into a new era of civilization and refinement - Again and again this has been experienced; its results are the records of past history.

A nursing infant must be nurtured for years in the father's arms before reaching maturity and adulthood. Now is but the beginning of that luminous morning; gradually, rays like the dawn's light are becoming visible and perceptible.

The world of existence was also once an infant, then like an adolescent child it grew and developed day by day. Now it has reached maturity. This century is the sovereign of centuries, this age is the mirror of all ages. Whatever existed in earlier centuries, the images of all are visible in this mirror. Moreover, this century itself possesses special perfections - it has great discoveries, wonderful industries, amazing institutions, and strange sciences. It has manifested, and will continue to manifest, the utmost perfection in all aspects.

Therefore, when we look at the world we see that the physical matters, material things, have made a great development and made a great advance. It cannot be compared with the past centuries or any other of the former centuries. The past centuries are in great beauty and appearance, civilization is advanced, science is also, industries and discoveries have reached the highest station. The physical world has made a great advance, in such manner that it is going to reach the station of maturity.

Today throughout the five continents of the globe it is Europe and most sections of America that are renowned for law and order, government and commerce, art and industry, science, philosophy and education. Yet in ancient times these were the most savage of the world's peoples, the most ignorant and brutish. They were even stigmatized as barbarians -- that is, utterly rude and uncivilized. … The basis of Europe's progress and civilization was actually laid in the fifteenth century of the Christian era, and from that time on, all her present evident culture has been, under the stimulus of great minds and as a result of the expansion of the frontiers of knowledge and the exertion of energetic and ambitious efforts, in the process of development.

Observe how other countries have advanced in modern progress. The Ancient Beauty has guided you through all counsels and covenants to that which causes life and progress in stations. You must be the party of progress so that you may become the army of life and the hosts of salvation. Likewise, divine confirmations have prepared for you the means of progress from every direction. Soon your brothers from Europe and America will come to Iran and will establish novel industries, build works of civilization, various factories, promote commerce, multiply agriculture, and spread knowledge.

Indeed, Paris has achieved the utmost progress in civilization and has attained success and prosperity in all material affairs, reaching such a state that it is like a mirror reflecting infinite images of civilization.

The American people have a real love for advancement. They are not content to stand still. They are most energetic and progressive. When you see a tree growing and developing, be hopeful of its outcome. It will blossom and bear fruit eventually. If you see dry wood or old trees, there is no hope whatever of fruitage.

The American people are not satisfied with their present day civilization. It is true that they have built a marvellous civilization of their own through giant-like forces and energy which in many respects is superior to the European civilization, yet they are striving for higher things, nobler ideals and universal principles.

Civilized and refining influences are working. Every one is thinking in the terms of progress, upward march. In the strictest sense, there is no reactionary movement in America. What is called reactionary there, is radical progressiveness in other parts of the world.

The Western nations for the last five centuries have been steadily going forward and with a superhuman energy pushing further and further the frontiers of ignorance and illiteracy they have attained to their present unassailable position. Now if the Islamic people start on this path with the same determination and constancy it will take them at least five centuries before they could reach the up-to-date level of Western civilization.

First the inhabitants of the country must be imbued with the spirit of progress, then the country will advance as a matter of course. As long as the people are kept in the rayless prison of coarse habits and are not moved by the generous impulses the country itself is held in a state of semi-barbarism and stagnation. We hope to see the denizens of Persia become liberal and progressive.

The glance of divine favor in this Most Great Cycle has encompassed all the Parsees, and thus they have made various kinds of progress in all ranks and conditions.

Day by day they are advancing. Soon you will observe that among women, souls will arise so attracted that they will cause amazement. They will become brilliant lamps and speakers of the proofs and evidences of the Lord of Bounties.

This bounty will be manifested when all subjects comprehend the benevolent intentions of the just Shepherd and do not fall short in rendering outstanding services as enjoined by the decisive texts, and increase their awareness day by day until the lights of civilization, like the rays of dawn, illumine the horizons of the country.

In this way, the public arose, with the utmost joy, to render service to the government, and continually progressed until they reached their current degree of development.

This is the requirement of the present time.

In the estimation of historians this radiant century is equivalent to one hundred centuries of the past. If comparison be made with the sum total of all former human achievements, it will be found that the discoveries, scientific advancement and material civilization of this present century have equaled, yea far exceeded the progress and outcome of one hundred former centuries. The production of books and compilations of literature alone bears witness that the output of the human mind in this century has been greater and more enlightening than all the past centuries together.

For example, if you compare the effects, discoveries, knowledge, arts, wonders, sciences and learning of fifty centuries with this luminous century, surely the virtues of this divine century exceed the achievements of all past centuries. … Likewise the arts, wonders, technical discoveries, beneficial projects, complete civilization, expansion of thoughts, increase of understanding and comprehension, revelation of the mysteries of creation and manifestation of the realities of contingent beings - this matter is universally accepted and all acknowledge and confess it.

O friends of God! This cycle and dispensation cannot be compared to former ages, for previous eras were but a ray of this era, and former centuries but a token of this century. Observe ye the progress and exaltation of this mighty century, which is distinguished in all aspects and conditions. It is the sun of all ages and centuries - its traces brilliant, its lights manifest, its power overwhelming, and its radiance adorning both East and West. Its crafts bewilder minds, its wonders gladden souls, its sciences illuminate the world, its arts are the very life of the world and eternal life.

The dark ages have disappeared, and the age of light has at last arrived. The Sun of Reality has dawned with supreme effulgence, the realities of things have become manifest and renewed, the mysteries of the unknown have been revealed, and great inventions and discoveries mark this period as a most wonderful age.

This age is the age of light. This century is the radiant century. This cycle is the cycle of love. This period is the period of sciences. This epoch is the epoch of universal civilization.

Aside from the true meaning of this passage which pertains to the power and might of the Cause of God, to the revelation of verses and signs, to the solution of divine problems, to the disclosure of the mysteries of the Holy Book and to the spread of knowledge - each of which is a hundred times greater in this mighty revelation than in any previous one - materially, too, all the learned men of this age agree that the advancements in knowledge, the arts, industries and inventions of this century are equal to those of the last fifty centuries, indeed, even greater than that.

Thus you observe that the effects, results, sciences, arts, wonders, crafts, discoveries and undertakings in this one blessed age are many times greater than all previous centuries combined. That is, if you were to gather the achievements of a hundred centuries, they would not equal one-tenth of the achievements of this century.

Praise be to God that the radiant century hath come. Praise be to God the springtime of Eternity hath pitched its tent. Praise be to God, this is the age of the discovery of the realities of things.

Verily I say unto you, this age is the age of science. This age is the age of the appearance of the truth. This age is the age of the extension of the sphere of thought.

Praise be to God that the centuries of darkness have Passed and the age of enlightenment has arrived!

Praise be to God that all traces of superstition and imitation have vanished and the minds and thoughts of men have broadened, inventions have gained new life, the arts and sciences have been revived, new plans have been evolved, discoveries have increased, all things have been revitalized, the rulings that regulate the world have been renewed!

These are the fundamental principles of progress, civilization, international peace and the unity of mankind. These are the essentials of Baha'u'llah's teachings, the secret of everlasting health, the remedy and healing for man.

For mature souls who have attained reason and wisdom derive no benefit or portion from children's games and toys, nor do they seek contamination. Rather, they partake of and engage in important undertakings that yield magnificent results and attend to weighty matters.

And the fruit, effect, leaves, flowers and blossoms of these trees are the human perfections, virtues and characteristics, spiritual sanctification and detachment both inward and outward, divine qualities, and modern progress.

When man thus adorns himself, he will progress every day with new vigor; his soul will become more and more sensitized and the laws and morals of the world will be reconstructed with divine conviction.

The glory and joy and spirit and fragrance of the human world lies in this: that it should continuously and successively advance toward spiritual progress, and thereafter make material progress. If thought is not directed toward constant progress, it is stagnation. … Likewise in physical matters and sciences and arts, man must be constantly progressing and increasing in knowledge. The moment there is a halt, decline occurs.

Man must ever be ascending.

Abdul Baha: "Stagnation is the cause of retrogression. Man must always advance. As soon as man remains stationary in a certain cause he will go backward. Therefore he must strive that man may advance day by day, that he may progress in all the worlds.

Question: Does everything progress and, therefore, must all men advance?

Answer: There is either a standstill or a progress. There could not be a descent, upon the same principle that a man could not become a babe again.

Know thou that progress is of two kinds: one is progress in station and the other is progress in perfections. Progress in station pertains to this world, as thou observest that the human body was first in the mineral state, then from the mineral state it advanced to the vegetable state, and from the vegetable to the animal state, and from the animal to the human state, thus progressing through stations. This progress in station belongs to this world of opposites.

Civilization, he said, is like unto a moving hill of sands; today it is here; tomorrow it's a hundred miles further. It is subject to these constant transferences: one day in Persia, another day in Assyria, now in Egypt; anon in Greece; once in India and again in Rome; in this age in Europe and further in America.

There is motion in all created things and movement and growth in all existing atoms. The universe is progressing and cycles are in utmost adornment and receptivity. Humankind has an abundant portion and will have an unlimited share.

O friends of 'Abdu'l-Baha! The universe is in endless progress, and the world of contingent beings is the dawning-place of the lights of the All-Merciful's bounty.

Among these matters is progress, among these matters is drawing near unto God - meaning the progress that would depend on fifty thousand years is achieved in one day for souls.

In this age of spiritual awakening, the world has entered upon the path of progress into the arena of development, where the power of the spirit surpasses that of the body.

Day unto day man will advance; the minds will develop; the souls will be refined; the world of morality will become illumined; man will discover the reality of phenomena, will unfathom the Mysteries of God. Then he will become the Perfect Man and will be in the Image and likeness of God.