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.
