They are the Future of Humanity

Sunday, August 26, 2018

Consultation: A New Model of Understanding


Consultation has been ordained by Bahá'u'lláh as the means by which agreement is to be reached and a collective course of action defined. It is applicable to the marriage partners and within the family, and indeed, in all areas where believers participate in mutual decision-making. It requires all participants to express their opinions with absolute freedom and without apprehension that they will be censured or their views belittled...
(The Universal House of Justice, 1992, Violence and Sexual Abuse of Women and Children)

As some may know, I am passionately interested in discovering a form of education for this new day of human life.  For me, education—which means to bring forth into actuality the powers and potentials of the human soul—takes place, or should take place, everywhere, and not just in school.  All that goes on within society and our interactions with Nature is part and parcel of an unceasing educational effort.  Indeed, as Baha’u’llah states, human education is an essential aspect of the work of the whole universe, since God has “ordained for thy training every atom in existence and the essence of all created things.” (The Persian Hidden Words #29)
As far as a curriculum for schools is concerned, we can do no better than to follow this advice from the pen of ‘Abdu’l-Baha: “Our meaning is that the friends must direct their attention toward the education and training of all the children of Persia, so that all of them, having, in the school of true learning, achieved the power of understanding and come to know the inner realities of the universe, will go on to uncover the signs and mysteries of God, and will find themselves illumined by the lights of the knowledge of the Lord, and by His love. This truly is the very best way to educate all peoples.” (From a Tablet translated from the Persian) (The Compilation of Compilations vol. I: 277)
It is in the context of not a school model but, as the above quote from the House of Justice indicates, a social model of education that we can examine in the next few posts the powerful role of consultation, as ordained by Baha’u’llah, in this great process, and perceive something of how and why it is such a potent tool for the accomplishment of so many goals.
While a quick reading of the House of Justice's statement may give the mistaken impression that consultation is simply a way of getting together to reach agreement and decide on a course of action—and, of course, consultation is that—a more thorough exploration of the whole process, purposes and results of consultation reveals that it is much, much more than this.  True consultation is no formal exercise in mere decision-making.  It is not carried out according to strict procedures, as Robert’s Rules of Order, of who is to speak when.  It is not to be confused with other initiatives such as brain-storming or inspiration.  Neither is it the same thing as simply asking friends for advice or suggestions as to what one should do.
Consultation takes place within a specific environment created to find and act upon the truth.  It is a new way of organizing human affairs and, as such, there are requisites and foundations to be laid. There are, too, responsibilities to each other and to the truth that are new—indeed, its definition of what is the truth and how to attain it are revolutionary, for its purposes and principles, when followed, release new powers of understanding.  The absence of any of these conditions and actions, or the entry of foreign practices, such as belittlement, undermines the whole endeavor and renders it naught.
The emergence of truth in consultation occurs through setting forth and establishing the spiritual, intellectual, and material conditions of its appearance.  It starts to life as the forming power and impulse of spirit, of a spiritual force finding intellectual form and reality in discussion and decision.  This, in turn, finds embodiment in physical action and behavior—then the process cycles back, as action is reflected upon, which gives greater understanding which attracts new impulses of spirit, which descends again into action, and so on in a dynamic, recursive, iterative spiraling process of spiritual, intellectual and social advance.
The whole context of consultation is the creating of a “space” for truth to appear.  This space is composed of spiritual principles, of the facts gathered and then reflected upon, of solutions devised, and of decisions made.  There are not only new energies of spirit tapped into, but new ideals and principles of thought to employ, and a new set of moral responsibilities to truth, and to each other, that all combine to create a singularly powerful means of education.
What are some of those prerequisites that are the foundation and essential conditions for true consultation to take place and which make it something more than human and, hence, new to human life and thought?
We can start with this statement from Abdu’l-Baha: “(T)rue consultation is spiritual conference in the attitude and atmosphere of love. Members must love each other in the spirit of fellowship in order that good results may be forthcoming. Love and fellowship are the foundation.”  (The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 68)
In several places, He set forth the conditions under which consultation must take place.  “The first condition is absolute love and harmony amongst the members of the assembly. They must be wholly free from estrangement and must manifest in themselves the Unity of God, for they are the waves of one sea, the drops of one river, the stars of one heaven, the rays of one sun, the trees of one orchard, the flowers of one garden. Should harmony of thought and absolute unity be nonexistent, that gathering shall be dispersed and that assembly be brought to naught…..” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha: 87-89)
In another place He spoke in these terms: “The prime requisites for them that take counsel together are purity of motive, radiance of spirit, detachment from all else save God, attraction to His Divine Fragrances, humility and lowliness amongst His loved ones, patience and long-suffering in difficulties and servitude to His exalted Threshold. Should they be graciously aided to acquire these attributes, victory from the unseen Kingdom of Bahá shall be vouchsafed to them.... (Cited in a letter dated 5 March 1922 written by Shoghi Effendi to the Bahá'ís of the United States and Canada, published in Bahá'í Administration: Selected Messages 1922-1932: 21-22)
These qualities alone should alert us to the truth that consultation as an educational model and method of ascertaining the truth is different from any model so far constructed by human minds.  Let us assume that those who are to engage in consultation have among themselves fulfilled the requisites of love, fellowship, harmony, purity of motive, humility, detachment, and the other virtues mentioned.  In doing so they are promised “victory from the unseen Kingdom of Bahá.”  However, we need to see how these qualities get transmuted into virtues in action, how we can, as Baha’u’llah instructs, “translate that which hath been written into reality and action…”(Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah249)
Our next step is to investigate what should happen within the discussion that is the actual consultation itself.  Our question is: What is spiritual conference?  Exploring answers to this question will also make us aware of some of the new intellectual responsibilities and virtues involved in true consultation.  That is for the next couple of posts.

No comments:

Post a Comment