For the Good of our Fellow Man

Let none suppose that the civilization towards which the divine teachings impel humankind will follow merely from adjustments to the present order.  Far from it.

(The Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2012)

Last post I introduced the topic of a context for prosperity that grows from spiritual education, ending that post with a promise to show the questions that best define that context.  The Universal House of Justice stated, I believe, the four pillars of this perspective for spiritual education: “It is not merely material well-being that people need. What they desperately need is to know how to live their lives — they need to know who they are, to what purpose they exist, and how they should act towards one another; and, once they know the answers to these questions they need to be helped to gradually apply these answers to everyday behaviour.  It is to the solution of this basic problem of mankind that the greater part of all our energy and resources should be directed.”  (Messages from the Universal House of Justice 1963-1986 p.283.

The first thing that strikes us about this concise statement from the Universal House of Justice is that the situation, even in 1974 when the paragraph was composed, was “desperate.”  Though unprecedented numbers of people were “well off” materially, they were desperate to know how to live with this.  Self-knowledge not money was in desperately short supply.  This was “the basic problem of mankind.”

Indeed, as the Bahá’í Revelation has been around for more than one hundred fifty years, and given that this principle was part of Bahá’í teachings from its beginning, the “problem” is at least that old.  In the mid-nineteenth century Bahá’u’lláh perceived the signs of a terrible disaster gathering on the near horizon of the future.  He wrote: “The winds of despair are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divideth and afflicteth the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective.” (Gleanings:216) One hundred years later, in 1974, to call the situation “desperate” is not shrill overstatement, but almost subdued understatement.

The only meaningful first implication one can draw from the phrase “need to know how to live their lives” is that many people don’t know how to live their lives—though they probably think that they do, or don’t know any better than what they are currently doing.  The letter then goes on to pose some very ideal criteria for knowing how to live one’s life—criteria seemingly far removed from the ordinary activities we normally associate with that phrase.   But they seem to have some hidden relation with prosperity.  Is there a secret that unlocks this hidden knowledge?  Well, yes and no.  In truth, the essence of it is found in all religious scripture and is known as the Golden Rule, so it is no secret.   But we do seem to need to have it repeated again and again.

One Bahá’í version of it is this statement from Shoghi Effendi: “We must be like the fountain or spring that is continually emptying itself of all that it has, and is continually being refilled from an invisible source. To be continually giving out for the good of our fellows undeterred by the fear of poverty and reliant on the unfailing bounty of the Source of all wealth and all good – that is the secret of right living.” (Principles of Bahá’í Administration:95)

There is a great deal to ponder in this short paragraph.  First, the secret of right living does not exclude generating wealth.  In fact it actively enjoins the creation of wealth—if it enriches all, is acquired properly, and is spent for the common good.  Wealth is not frowned upon in the Bahá'í Teachings.  As in all religions, though, material wealth is regarded as potentially a real barrier to personal and collective spiritual growth and development—a barrier which if overcome brings great rewards and powers. “Know ye in truth”, Bahá'u'lláh writes, “that wealth is a mighty barrier between ... the lover and his beloved... Well is it then with him who, being rich, is not hindered by his riches from the eternal Kingdom... The splendor of such a wealthy man shall illuminate the dwellers of heaven even as the sun enlightens the earth!” (The Hidden Words #53 Persian)

In this same connection, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá wrote: “Wealth is praiseworthy in the highest degree, if it is acquired by an individual’s own effort and the grace of God, in commerce, agriculture, art and industry, and if it be expended for philanthropic purposes… Wealth is most commendable, provided the entire population is wealthy.” (The Secret of Divine Civilization: 24)  So, just working hard and ethically to get personal wealth does not earn much applause.  The real wealth in wealth, so to speak, is what one expends for the good of others to make more than just oneself wealthy.  The real wealth is the inner riches we bring forth to make and use it: i.e. either for ourselves alone or for some greater good.  The Bahá’í Writings never define prosperity as just having general material plenty, as can be "measured" by some wholly numerical and abstract criteria such as national economic indicators.  Nor is true prosperity, even for an individual or family, a condition where some have more than they can consume while others have less than they need.  Prosperity is when every single person has enough and not a person before.

Neither does the secret of right living discount trusting the “invisible” to refill our personal and collective accounts.  In fact, it relies on this recompense, knowing that with God “is the storehouse of all that is in heaven and earth.” (Baha’i Prayers:162)  If, as ‘Abdu’l-Baha said, “the fundamentals of the whole economic condition are divine in nature and are associated with the world of the heart and spirit,” then economic challenges are never adequately met through purely material or only human efforts.  God wishes to contribute to human prosperity.  Indeed, our Creator is indispensable to this.  But His wish can best be realized only if each person is willing to be like that fountain that empties itself of all that it has for the good of humanity.  If we are reluctant to let Him be involved, He does not turn away, but finds the means to bring us back into proper relation with Him, with each other, and with our own self.  We call these recessions, depressions and cataclysms that result from not acting in conformity with universal moral principles, such as love thy neighbor, which are found in every spiritual tradition.

            Lastly, we should give “undeterred by the fear of poverty” and be reliant on the “unfailing bounty of the Source of all wealth.”  But we should not paint too rosy a picture.  Giving will generate the fear of material poverty.  It is human nature, at least our lower nature, to fear that in giving to others one is impoverishing oneself.  Fear will be there!  But we must not be deterred by it.  It helps to overcome this natural fear by believing that the “bounty of the Source of all wealth” is “unfailing.”  That is, giving actually enlarges not diminishes the giver.  In words echoed in all spiritual traditions, ‘Abdu’l-Baha said: “Eternal happiness is contingent upon giving.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace:128)   In the same light, the Buddha is reported to have remarked: “If you knew what I know about the power of giving, you would not let a single meal pass without sharing it in some way.”

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