A spring can run close beneath the surface and still be choked. Bahá’u’lláh warns against obstructing the luminous spring of the soul with the thorns and brambles of vain affection, and from that image a whole way of teaching unfolds. Water is received before it is given: drink as much as you can from the cup of God’s love, then cause others to drink. Detachment lets the waters of wisdom gush from a heart; joy and daily renewal make a person a spring from which other souls can be quickened; a single handful from the living ocean, sprinkled with the hand of detachment, is enough to enrich all who exist. At the well in Samaria, a request for a drink turns into the promise of water springing up within a person [1], the same movement from thirst to life, from receiving to sharing. Finally the teacher is only a reed through which the Holy Spirit reaches a seeking soul. Pursuing that image leads to the water of life itself, to what it means to be a channel for the Spirit, and to the enkindlement that keeps the channel clear.
Obstruct not the luminous spring of thy soul with the thorns and brambles of vain and inordinate affections, and impede not the flow of the living waters that stream from the fountain of thine heart.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-Ahmad (Persian), to Ahmad -- BH00249)
02
Drink thou as much as thou canst from this overflowing cup of the love of God and then cause others to drink; take thou a portion from this ocean of guidance and then suffer others to share.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1907-Sep-03, to Emma H Harmon -- AB08815)
03
God will, no doubt, inspire whosoever detacheth himself from all else but Him, and will cause the pure waters of wisdom and utterance to gush out and flow copiously from his heart.
The handmaids of God must rise to such a station that they will, by themselves and unaided, comprehend these inner meanings, and be able to expound at full length every single word; a station where, out of the truth of their inmost hearts, a spring of wisdom will well up, and jet forth even as a fountain that leapeth from its own original source.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1902-Oct-25, to Corinne True -- AB00342)
05
As much as thou art able, spend thy time in matters that are the cause of joy to heart and soul, so that in every moment thou mayest find new life, and in every day seek new strength, and in every night kindle an illumined lamp, and become a spring of the water of life to quicken souls.
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, 1914-Mar ca., to May Maxwell -- AB05294)
06
How happy he who proffers freely the cup of everlasting life to others! How joyous the pure-hearted one who would unloose his tongue and shed the generous jewels of utterance before such souls as are prepared to receive them!
When you arrive in Hindustan, I hope you will vivify that land like unto the fresh, vernal breeze of the mountains.
When the Zephyr of the spring passes over orchards and meadows, the world of nature will be adorned with the daintiest and most graceful draperies. The germinating and growing trees join the bubbling brooks and sighing pines in the singing of their anthems. May you also resuscitate the dead souls with the wafting of the Breeze of Divine Grace!
(‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Words to departing Indian pilgrims, spoken on 1914-May-29 -- ABU1468)
08
I implore Thee, by Thy Name which none hath befittingly recognized, and whose import no soul hath fathomed; I beseech Thee, by Him Who is the Fountain-Head of Thy Revelation and the Day-Spring of Thy signs, to make my heart to be a receptacle of Thy love and of remembrance of Thee. Knit it, then, to Thy most great Ocean, that from it may flow out the living waters of Thy wisdom and the crystal streams of Thy glorification and praise.
O thou who journeyest unto God! Take thy portion from this ocean and deprive not thyself of that which hath been ordained therein, and be of them that attain. Were all who are in the heavens and earth to be given but a drop thereof, they would find themselves enriched through the enrichment of God, the Powerful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise. Take, with the hand of detachment, a handful from this Living Ocean, then sprinkle it upon all created things, that they may be purified from human limitations and be brought nigh unto the Most Sublime Vision of God, this hallowed and resplendent spot.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Suriy-i-Bayan, to Shaykh (Muhammad brother of Ahmad) -- BH00144)
10
O people of God! Righteous men of learning who dedicate themselves to the guidance of others and are freed and well guarded from the promptings of a base and covetous nature are, in the sight of Him Who is the Desire of the world, stars of the heaven of true knowledge. It is essential to treat them with deference.
(Bahá’u’lláh, Lawh-i-Dunya (Tablet of the World), 1308 ? [1890-1891], to Mirza Siyyid Muhammad Afnan (known as Aqa Mirza Aqa Nurud-Din) -- BH00238)
Further quotations · supplied wording and references
11
Everyone must remember that it is the "Holy Spirit that quickens" and therefore the teacher must become like a reed through which the Holy Spirit may reach the seeking soul.
COC#1995 (30 May 1956 on behalf of Shoghi Effendi)
Supplied quotation · catalogue passage not verified