Practical Justice

Justice is not limited, it is a universal quality. Its operation must be carried out in all classes, from the highest to the lowest.  Justice must be sacred, and the rights of all the people must be considered. 

(‘Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks:159)

So far some aspects of the concept of the oneness and wholeness of human relationships have been described. However, simply to describe them is not to demonstrate how they work. What makes them work are two closely related principles: the principle of the fundamental right of every individual to an unfettered search for truth and the principle of consultation on any and all problems. Together these are operating principles of justice, because justice, as described by the House of Justice, requires universal participation in arriving at decisions in consultation.

The independent search for truth implies the right of each person to her or his own opinion based on that search. In full, frank and open consultation, individuals find their common mind, for minds are united upon the truth.  The process of consultation, when practiced under the guidance of "divine principles", brings these various perspectives together in a spirit of collective truth-seeking to discover what the whole truth in any situation is.  Thus the consultative process combines the rights of individuals to express their opinions and the requirements of the collectivity for the stability of a working consensus. In short, consultation brings out the cooperative side of human nature, yet does not sacrifice individual expression in the process.  Indeed it depends upon that expression if oneness and wholeness are to be manifest.  

Social change means social conflict. The question is how to manage or direct it. The last one hundred years has witnessed a growing number of consultative groups and agencies appearing in the world, from United Nations organizations to local NGO’s, as problems and challenges are shared across a greater spectrum of humanity.  These experiments in self-directed decision-making represent different models of conflict resolution to achieve creative solutions to problems and challenges.  Creativity, I said, was one of the hallmarks of a oneness and wholeness of human relationships.  But these experiments in consultation to achieve social and economic development usually go in one or another direction,  depending upon their stage of community.   That is, they are either slanted either toward social or economic development.  I mean that in the so-called developed nations such innovations are, generally, a social development toward greater community involvement, whereas in the less economically developed nations, where community remains strong and some form of consultation is already the norm, the development thrust and purpose is more economic.

In either case, in an “age that sees the people of the world increasingly gaining access to information of every kind and to a diversity of ideas will find justice asserting itself as the ruling principle of successful social organization."  (The Prosperity of Humankind: Section II para: 1)) 

Applying spiritual principles guides people through a kind of indirect social conflict, one of personal and community spiritual transformation, carried out in a free and unfettered search for truth while striving for the moral betterment of self and community.  Therefore, though conflict is intrinsic to the whole transformational process, that conflict can be constructive.  Its initial effects may be disequilibrating, but this is part of a larger process of renewal and reconstruction.  Within the framework of the Order of Baha'u'llah, there is complete harmony between the goals and aspirations of the individual and the objectives and efforts of the community when mediated through common institutions.  Where unity is not manifest, the process of consultation undertaken within the framework of spiritual principle brings it out or creates it.

The House of Justice points out that this process of finding unity is essential to establishing social justice.  They wrote: "In order for the standard of human rights now in the process of formulation by the community of nations to be promoted and established as prevailing international norms, a fundamental redefinition of human relationships is called for... Central to the task of reconceptualizing the system of human relationships is the process that Bahá’u’lláh refers to as consultation. “In all things it is necessary to consult,” is His advice. “The maturity of the gift of understanding is made manifest through consultation.” (The Prosperity of Humankind: Section III para: 3)  Hence at every level of human interaction and governance consultation will grow in importance as its power to solve seemingly intractable problems, smooth thorny issues and defuse contentious disputes unfolds.  It will become the chief director of the actions of nations and larger social entities and to their conflict management.

That is the conceptual level, or the big social level.  On the practical level of community building, justice demands universal participation to meet common challenges through wholehearted united action.  Consultation is a cooperative approach to the investigation of truth that activates the creative powers of individuals to find good solutions to problems.   In good consultation there are never those who know and those who don’t know.  There is no class structure of decision-makers and those that are charged to carry out those decisions.  The principle of humanity’s oneness points to one inescapable truth, every individual is invited to participate in deliberations upon subjects that affect his welfare.

Consultation strengthens the unity of any group, because it strengthens each individual’s commitment to common values and goals by finding shared means to realize these. Through consultation they may come from diverse views into agreement on the nature of a problem, agree on a desired solution, and agree on the desired approach to its solution, for we think together when we speak together.   In true consultation several lines of thought and opinion merge and combine to give a complete picture of any problem, because a comprehensive unit of thought then surrounds the subject.  Also, in good consultation disagreement is not frowned upon, so that discussion may be complete and frank. Yet each must respect the opinions of others, must never belittle another’s thought, and must maintain focus upon the ideas expressed and not fall into petty personality wrangles.  Hence we can read in the Baha'i Writings such statements as "the shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions." (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha:87)  

Finally, practical justice demands that everyone affected by the decision or will be asked to carry it out will have some say in its making.  The House of Justice writes that: “Viewed in such a light, consultation is the operating expression of justice in human affairs. So vital is it to the success of collective endeavor that it must constitute a basic feature of a viable strategy of social and economic development. Indeed, the participation of those on whose commitment the success of such a strategy depends becomes effective only as consultation is made the organizing principle of every project. "No man can attain his true station," is Bahá'u'lláh's counsel, "except through his justice. No power can exist except through unity. No welfare and no well-being can be attained except through consultation." (The Prosperity of Humankind: Section III para: 6)  

But consultation is more than simply a blending of opinions.  It creates a new awareness of truth, one that is not available to individual minds alone, and matures human thinking.  The Bahá’í writings assert: “Consultation bestoweth greater awareness and transmuteth conjecture into certitude. It is a shining light which, in a dark world, leadeth the way and guideth. For everything there is and will continue to be a station of perfection and maturity. The maturity of the gift of understanding is made manifest through consultation.” (The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 93)  And: “Take ye counsel together in all matters, inasmuch as consultation is the lamp of guidance which leadeth the way, and is the bestower of understanding.” (The Compilation of Compilations vol. I, p. 91)

A direct link to my book, Renewing the Sacred, is http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a.  It is now also in Kindle.

A Living Organism

It is the structure of His New World Order, now stirring in the womb of the administrative institutions He Himself has created, that will serve both as a pattern and a nucleus of that world commonwealth which is the sure, the inevitable destiny of the peoples and nations of the earth.

(Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come:118)

I have been exploring a fundamental principle of human life called by Shoghi Effendi the oneness and wholeness of human relationships.  These are not only for relations between individuals, but are also the structure of community and of governance and guide their relations.  The Bahá’í Administrative Order is an example of these relations that encompass the material, human, and spiritual aspects of human beings.  Let me state again, the characteristics of oneness and wholeness are complementary and necessary.  One without the other is insufficient to build or transform society because they are together needed to nurture the whole human being. 

Oneness and Wholeness is unity in diversity, and unity in diversity is totality.  I mean that society is never a homogenous domain and transformation is never a single process or set of changes.  Rather, society is manifest in a diverse set of relations and coordinated interactions, where both continuities and discontinuities, ruptures and cementings, identities and interdependencies, are formed and occur simultaneously.  These connect and diverge to form new relations, all changes implicit within society’s internal possibilities of growth and expressed in its interrelations with its environment.  These possibilities gradually become manifest and more complex.  Transformation is the totality of these coordinated transformations, their sum and summation together.  It is oneness (essence) unfolding into wholeness (attributes) and then enfolding into a manifest oneness again, potential finding its actuality and actuality bringing forth more potential.

Thus the House of Justice says that one important characteristic of Bahá’í administration is that: “Even as a living organism, it has coded within it the capacity to accommodate higher and higher degrees of complexity, in terms of structures and processes, relationships and activities, as it evolves under the guidance of the Universal House of Justice.” (Ridvan 2010)

Last post discussed the community institution of the feast, a social institution established at the very base of society, the culmination of a long development of community forms and the means through which society can be restored.  This post will say a few words about the primary institution of governance in the Bahá’í community, the Local Spiritual Assembly.   

I will start with the following statement from ‘Abdu’l-Baha about the historical significance of this structure of governance.  “The Spiritual Assemblies to be established in this Age of God, this holy century, have, it is indisputable, had neither peer nor likeness in the cycles gone before. For those assemblages that wielded power were based on the support of mighty leaders of men, while these Assemblies are based on the support of the Beauty of Abha. The defenders and patrons of those other assemblages were either a prince, or a king, or a chief priest, or the mass of the people. But these Spiritual Assemblies have for their defender, their supporter, their helper, their inspirer, the omnipotent Lord.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha:81)

These institutions of governance have manifold responsibilities and actions to perform.  As the Feast has a spiritual, an administrative and a social aspect, so Local Spiritual Assemblies must care for the spiritual, human and material welfare of those in their community.  Local Spiritual Assembly members are titled “Trustees of the Merciful”, and ‘Abdu’l-Baha said that their discussions “must all be confined to spiritual matters that pertain to the training of souls, the instruction of children, the relief of the poor, the help of the feeble throughout all classes in the world, kindness to all peoples, the diffusion of the fragrances of God and the exaltation of His Holy Word.” (Quoted in Shoghi Effendi, Baha'i Administration:22)

But the relations between the institution of the Local Spiritual Assembly and the community of believers are uniquely structured in Baha’u’llah’s Order.  For the past few hundred years the image of human beings was that of a selfish, greedy, grasping individual intent only on self-interest and maximizing his material comfort and security. Social institutions have been built, especially in the western democracies, with this creature in mind which try to manage the anarchy inherent within him, often by coercion, interdict and force. The institutions of most societies are organized upon authoritarian principles requiring passive obedience to a leader or leadership. Hence the individual and his social institutions are caught up in a terrible conflict of purpose and are forced to work against each other, only coming together to negotiate some temporary blend of desires.  Over time this has terrible consequences for social harmony.  Psychologist, Hossain Danesh, states: "It is obvious that the authoritarian mode of government is more oriented towards disunity, mistrust, and suspicion that towards unity, trust, confidence in others." (Violence-free Family: 66)

The Baha'i Order provides a different and new way to manage the possibility of conflict which is present in every society.  One striking aspect of the Baha'i system is its separation of authority and power.  In a national Baha'i community: “Authority is concentrated in the hands of the elected members of the National Assembly. Power and initiative are primarily vested in the entire body of the believers acting through their local representatives.” (Principles of Baha'i Administration:68)  The separation of power to act and authority to guide actions into coherent paths of community development is crucial, for it leaves intact the right of every individual to take initiative, but that initiative is best realized if it is undertaken within a coordinated plan of community growth.  The potential for a clash is there, of course, but these potentially divergent paths are brought into coherence by "the law of consultation" and the unifying power of universal participation.  Again, the oneness of the law of consultation and the wholeness of universal participation is present.  If society is to advance: “A unity in diversity of actions is called for, a condition in which different individuals will concentrate on different activities, appreciating the salutary effect of the aggregate on the growth and development of the Faith, because each person cannot do everything and all persons cannot do the same thing.” (Promoting Entry by Troops:17)

Besides these more formal institutions of the Bahá’í Administrative Order, a number of experiments in social organization, such as Social and Economic Development projects, are occurring on the local, national and international levels, within the global Baha’i community. Yet all these different initiatives and projects occur within what the Universal House of Justice called "a single social organism, representative of the diversity of the human family, conducting its affairs through a system of commonly accepted consultative principles." (The Promise World Peace:36.)  I will discuss this in the next post.

A direct link to my book, Renewing the Sacred is http://tinyurl.com/cndew5a   It is now also in Kindle.

The Divine Imprint

Thou art the head of an assembly which is the very imprint of the Company on high, the mirror-image of the all-glorious realm.

(Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha:164)

       The statement of ‘Abdu’l-Baha above, written to the members of a Local Spiritual Assembly, attests to an ancient principle, namely, that the human social world is a mirror-image, an imprint of light, of an existing, perhaps pre-existing, celestial society.  This image is often used in sacred Scriptures to describe the relation of the divine world with that organic world of human society that is growing toward it.  By growing toward it I mean looking more and more like it.  For example, ‘Abdu’l-Baha says: “Perchance, God willing, this terrestrial world may become as a celestial mirror upon which we may behold the imprint of the traces of Divinity, and the fundamental qualities of a new creation may be reflected from the reality of love shining in human hearts.”  (The Promulgation of Universal Peace:235)

If we want to grasp metaphorically how that relationship between the two realms works and for what purpose the Bahá’í Administrative Order was constructed, 'Abdu'l-Baha remarks, "so that the perilous darkness of ignorant prejudice may vanish through the light of the Sun of Truth, this dreary world may become illumined, this material realm may absorb the rays of the world of spirit.” (Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha:105) Thus, it is constructed to advance human society, and the closer human society gets in structure and activity to the divine structure the more rays of the world of the spirit are absorbed, and it is this light-energy when it is absorbed that is power of advance.

This is the social structure and process I have been describing as the oneness and wholeness of human relationships.  These relations are, Shoghi Effendi explains, “a fundamental principle of life.”  They are stable, yet flexible, rooted yet capable of growth.  They develop according to organic principles, but only as long as they absorb spiritual energy, which they are designed to do, as the mirror is designed to absorb and reflect the rays of the sun.

Underpinning the governance of this Order are the stable unchanging forms of the Local Assembly, elected everywhere by the same direct method, and the Baha'i Feast, the common institution of Baha'is everywhere. National Assemblies and the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Baha'i world, are elected by indirect representation.  Universality of values (e.g. absence of prejudice, equality of the sexes, truthfulness, trustworthiness) and purposes (e.g. spiritual development, unity of all human beings, justice), is an essential element of each part of this order and its functioning, and is the touchstone of its stability and simplicity. Yet, because each level of the order has its own sphere of jurisdiction and individuality, it can also continually modify it secondary aspects so to respond innovatively to change.  But I want to focus in this post on the Bahá’í Feast, setting it in full historical context.

Because they embrace, contain and direct the material, social and spiritual relations of people, as a fundamental principle of life, the oneness and wholeness of human relationships have always been the essential form of human society.  But today, because of communications technology and the developing world consciousness, they can be fully manifest as the fundamental principle of a global civilization.  Thus the House of Justice explains: “The Feast may well be seen in its unique combination of modes as the culmination of a great historic process in which primary elements of community life -- acts of worship, of festivity and other forms of togetherness -- over vast stretches of time have achieved a glorious convergence. The Nineteen Day Feast represents the new stage in this enlightened age to which the basic expression of community life has evolved. Shoghi Effendi has described it as the foundation of the new World Order, and in a letter written on his behalf, it is referred to as constituting "a vital medium for maintaining close and continued contact between the believers themselves, and also between them and the body of their elected representatives in the local community." (A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters 1983-1992:67-68)

Thus the Feast is not just a social gathering like other polite social gatherings, nor is it something totally new.  The House of Justice says it is the culmination of a great historic process of human civic life, a convergence of different forms of human togetherness.  But it is also a new stage in this ages-long evolution of community life.  While one aspect of the Baha'i Feast opens a vast new way to look at the Bahá’í Order historically—as the culmination of social relations that have always existed—the new stage aspect points to an equally vast future vision of community life built upon the foundation of the Feast. 

The House of Justice continues: “Moreover, because of the opportunity which it provides for conveying messages from the national and international levels of the administration and also for communicating the recommendations of the friends to those levels, the Feast becomes a link that connects the local community in a dynamic relationship with the entire structure of the Administrative Order. But considered in its local sphere alone there is much to thrill and amaze the heart. Here it links the individual to the collective processes by which a society is built or restored. Here, for instance, the Feast is an arena of democracy at the very root of society, where the Local Spiritual Assembly and the members of the community meet on common ground, where individuals are free to offer their gifts of thought, whether as new ideas or constructive criticism, to the building processes of an advancing civilization. Thus it can be seen that aside from its spiritual significance, this common institution of the people combines an array of elemental social disciplines which educate its participants in the essentials of responsible citizenship.” (A Wider Horizon, Selected Letters 1983-1992: 67-68)

            This is an absolutely amazing statement.  The House of Justice sees the Feast as an arena where pathways of energy running through the whole hidden Order, from the individual up to the House of Justice and back, connect in an open, dynamic relationship.  Again Feast is not just a regular time and place set aside for Bahá’ís to get together in worship or to discuss their business.  Seen in its full context, the Feast is both the end, or culmination, of a vast historical process in social evolution and the beginning of an even vaster social process into the future, for attending and participating in a Bahá’í Feast is a way for every individual to be linked to “collective processes by which a society is built or restored.”  The Feast is a community institution of an Administrative Order that is “the pattern and nucleus” of an emerging world order.  It is “an arena of democracy at the very root of society” combining “an array of elemental social disciplines which educate its participants in the essentials of responsible citizenship.” Hence by participating enthusiastically in a Feast one is helping to restore and rebuild one’s own society, and learning the ways to do that.  

         The Bahá’í Order is truly an organic entity, growing through a process of absorbing the light of spirit, for the purpose of restoring true human society.  The Feast, as a community institution and an integral part of that Order, is one mirror of the Kingdom receiving the imprint of light from that higher society.  Next post will discuss the Local Spiritual Assembly, the other bedrock institution of the Order of Baha’u’llah.

A direct link to my book, Renewing the Sacred ishttp://tinyurl.com/cndew5a It is now also in Kindle           

Essentials of a Divine Economy

Does not the very operation of the world-unifying forces that are at work in this age necessitate that He Who is the Bearer of the Message of God in this day should not only reaffirm that self-same exalted standard of individual conduct inculcated by the Prophets gone before Him, but embody in His appeal, to all governments and peoples, the essentials of that social code, that Divine Economy, which must guide humanity's concerted efforts in establishing that all-embracing federation which is to signalize the advent of the Kingdom of God on this earth?

(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, 60)

To move from the present international order into a new global one is not going to be easy.  To construct society upon the principle of the oneness of humanity implies, Shoghi Effendi said, "an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a change such as the world has not yet experienced." (The World Order of Baha'u'llah: 43)

One part of this organic change in the structure of society is the establishment of what Shoghi Effendi called the oneness and wholeness of human relationships. Such relationships embody a new ideal of civic society. They range from the principles and standards restoring the primary and universal social institutions of marriage and family, to the principles that strengthen the intermediate institutions that make up community life and reinforce the bonds of friendship, to the principles organizing international relations and the branches of world government.

The oneness and wholeness of human relations operate on several levels simultaneously because they are a fundamental spiritual reality whose time to emerge into social reality as an organizing principle has arrived.  How do we know this?   Because the nation-state system has reached exhaustion and is collapsing.  As far back as 1936 Shoghi Effendi wrote:  “World unity is the goal towards which a harassed humanity is striving. Nation-building has come to an end. The anarchy inherent in state sovereignty is moving towards a climax.  A world growing to maturity must abandon this fetish, recognize the oneness and wholeness of human relationships, and establish once and for all the machinery that can best incarnate this fundamental principle of life.”   (The World Order of Baha’u’llah:202) 

What does the oneness and wholeness of human relationships look like and how do they operate? Though no complete answer to this question can be given, certain aspects of these relations can be understood because they are already functioning within the social order established by Baha'u'llah.

Creating an oneness and wholeness of human relationships can not mean that some simple adjustments to current human relations will effect so radical a transformation.  It means rather, that nothing less than a new kind and totality of social relationships be created, a qualitative change that embodies a truly organic and universal restructuring of social life.  A real, eternal form of community must be built, at once both a renewal and a regeneration of civic society.  This process will not occur without a great deal of upheaval—for it means the abolition of all forms of prejudice, the equal opportunity for all regardless of race, class, ethnicity, gender or nationality—based upon a reconceptualizing of the nature of humanity.

These relationships cannot, then, be established  independently of the consciousness of the oneness of humanity, for they are the outer social embodiment of this inner unifying consciousness that sees that “in a world of interdependent nations and peoples the advantage of the part is best to be reached by the advantage of the whole....The welfare of the part means the welfare of the whole, and the distress of the part brings distress to the whole." (The Promised Day is Come:122)

Seen separately, the oneness of human relationships, arising out of the urge of human beings to form groups, unifies individuals into a purposeful on-going tradition of collective social experience. The wholeness of human relations, stemming from the need to diversify to bring about the expression of the full range of human potentialities, allows full play to humanity's creative drive, humankind's sole hope of meeting novel situations successfully.

The oneness and wholeness of human relations is also a unity of purpose within a diversity of actions.  In relationships of oneness and wholeness: "A unity in diversity of actions is called for, a condition in which different individuals will concentrate on different activities, appreciating the salutary effect of the aggregate on the growth and development of the Faith, because each person cannot do everything and all persons cannot do the same thing.” (Promoting Entry by Troops:46)

The oneness and wholeness of human relationships genuinely enlarges the individual's social freedom and autonomy, while promoting, or rather because it promotes, community and fraternity.  They regulate and liberate the individual actions.  They are consistent with the moral imperatives of the oneness of humanity, and with general social and economic, as well as political and civic objectives, because they are the social foundation of these. It is an enabling social structure that distributes power and knowledge in ways designed to strengthen and extend individual and group autonomy. It is a structure of community that nourishes rather than represses individuality, for it is consistent with the dynamics of our essential species-being.

Diversifying by experimenting within a social structure is one aspect of oneness and wholeness anywhere, on any level, at any time. The Baha'i community is but one example of this process. But there is another equally important aspect that is conspicuous by its absence.

Lack of oneness and wholeness in human relations is not just lack of unity within families and groups or between races, tribes, genders, and cultures locally or world-wide. Disunity exists, because social relations do not include spiritual reality in the organization of society through spiritual institutions. Relations without spiritual reality can not nurture the whole human being.  Society is really rooted in the transcendent dimension and receives its energy and form from that dimension in the laws and principles of its founding Revelation. With Baha'u'llah's Revelation the spiritual and material laws have been combined and welded as never before in a single divine Message.

The wholeness of human relations means that these relationships nurture the whole human being, but that they do it for a two-fold purpose.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha wrote that “the primary purpose in revealing the Divine Law…is to bring about happiness in the after life and civilization and the refinement of character in this.” (The Secret of Divine Civilization: 46)

The wholeness of human relations must mean that the three worlds that people live within—the inner spiritual world of individual potentials and capacities; the collective human world of social interaction; and the natural world of the earth and body—are represented in the relations themselves.

Any individual entering into relations that embrace and influence the spiritual, social and material worlds of human existence promises an enlargement of social responsibilities. That is, each individual must be concerned with his whole being and the whole being of others, since the relations he has with others embody the whole of human life. This ethical progress upsets the equilibrium of every existing society, for no society today gives the individual so much responsibility.

More in the next post.

A direct link to my book, Renewing the Sacred ishttp://tinyurl.com/cndew5a It is now also in Kindle