Moral Responsibilities to Truth

Settle all things, both great and small, by consultation. Without prior consultation, take no important step in your own personal affairs. Concern yourselves with one another. Help along one another's projects and plans. Grieve over one another. Let none in the whole country go in need. Befriend one another until ye become as a single body, one and all...

(Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá: 128-29)

           

As the above quote indicates, the Master wishes people to be intimately involved with each other, look out for each other, be of service to all they meet, as that is the basis of real community.  That perspective opens up numerous possibilities for consultation to be an ever-present reality in human life.  It is not, then, the privileged responsibility of those serving in institutional authority, but the means to bring certitude, awareness and awakening to every aspect of human life.  All can and should make consultation an integral part of daily life and promote its use and employ.  This, in turn, implies to my mind a new set of moral responsibilities that community members have to truth and to each other, especially in regards to the results, the decisions made, in consultation.

Let us examine some examples of when consultation should be used in everyday life as presented by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, paying special attention to how solutions to problems come about.  But first let us recall that, under any circumstance and in any setting: “consultation must have for its object the investigation of truth.” (The Promulgation of Universal Peace: 68.)

‘Abdu’l-Baha states: “For instance, when a man hath a project to accomplish, should he consult with some of his brethren, that which is agreeable will of course be investigated and unveiled to his eyes, and the truth will be disclosed. Likewise on a higher level, should the people of a village consult one another about their affairs, the right solution will certainly be revealed. In like manner, the members of each profession, such as in industry, should consult, and those in commerce should similarly consult on business affairs. In short, consultation is desirable and acceptable in all things and on all issues.” (Cited in letter dated 15 February 1922 written by Shoghi Effendi to the National Spiritual Assembly of Persia (The Compilation of Compilations vol. I: 97)  This returns us to an earlier quoted statement from ‘Abdu’l-Baha where He stated that after a speaker sets forth his views in the proper way: “Should any one oppose, he must on no account feel hurt for not until matters are fully discussed can the right way be revealed.” 

            Let us look more closely at the phrases “the truth will be disclosed”, “the right solution will certainly be revealed” and “the right way be revealed.”  Recall that when we touched on this topic before it was stated that if truth is to be revealed then it exists somewhere waiting to be revealed.  We suggested, following the House of Justice statement, that the “somewhere” where truth resides is in the spiritual principles that are to guide consultation to the devising of practical solutions. It is not solely a product of human thought or imagination, neither is it some cobbled together situational consensus, and it is not the same thing as confirmed human knowledge, such as science may provide, though the truths that exists in the human values or spiritual principles are being confirmed by science.  These together, spiritual principle, science, thought and imagination, compose the mental “space”, the opening in consciousness, where truth may appear.  Truth is the authority in these matters, and it is what consultation is not only meant to find, but which consultation is founded upon, being foundation, the operative principle of justice, and the goal of consultation.  The final step in consultation, which we will examine in the next section, is to find the practical form of truth, the devising of a solution or, in the House of Justice’s phrase, “a course of collective action defined”.  Now all this implies, it seems to me, a new moral obligation to truth itself to carry out the decision.

‘Abdu’l-Baha gives another example when consultation can be used and what it indicates for the one wishing to consult: “The question of consultation is of the utmost importance, and is one of the most potent instruments conducive to the tranquillity and felicity of the people. For example, when a believer is uncertain about his affairs, or when he seeketh to pursue a project or trade, the friends should gather together and devise a solution for him. He, in his turn, should act accordingly. Likewise in larger issues, when a problem ariseth, or a difficulty occurreth, the wise should gather, consult, and devise a solution. They should then rely upon the one true God, and surrender to His Providence, in whatever way it may be revealed, for divine confirmations will undoubtedly assist. Consultation, therefore, is one of the explicit ordinances of the Lord of mankind.” (Compilation on Consultation, The Compilation of Compilations vol. I: 96)

            Again, let us tease out the implications of a couple of relevant phrases.  First, the “friends should gather together and devise a solution for him. He, in his turn, should act accordingly.” And: “rely upon the one true God, and surrender to His Providence, in whatever way it may be revealed, for divine confirmations will undoubtedly assist.”  To “act accordingly” means to accept wholeheartedly the decision and act on its requirements.  While it might be thought that this   submission is contrary to the sacred principle of independent investigation of truth, this is not really the case. One, for example, would not consult a reputable and competent physician about an illness, receive a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis based upon fact, be given a remedy, only to decide on one’s own unprofessional authority to try something else.  Why consult the physician in the first place?

Once a solution is “devised” the recipient should “act accordingly” and “surrender to His Providence” of his own desire and volition.  He or she should not act out of slavish obeisance, and the individual cannot be cajoled, coerced, or compelled to obey, which themselves are anathema to the principle of unity.  Obedience is for his or her own protection and guidance, and to attract divine assistance, “for divine confirmations will undoubtedly assist.”  Thus the principle of unity extends through the entire sequence of steps and stages of the process.  If the truth has been ascertained, conjecture transmuted into certitude, a practical solution devised, then action follows as a natural continuation of the process of creating unity, for it is the truth for that particular situation.  The Master states: “Man must consult in all things for this will lead him to the depths of each problem and enable him to find the right solution.” (The Compilation of Compilations vol. I: 98)

Also let us note in passing the use by the House of Justice of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s phrase “devise a solution” in its discussion of spiritual principle.  Recall they wrote: “Any well-intentioned group can in a general sense devise practical solutions to its problems, but good intentions and practical knowledge are usually not enough”, clearly pointing to the need for spiritual influence to make the devising of a solution a real and comprehensive solution, a dis-solving of the knot of a problem.

To “devise a solution” means, to me, that consultation “solves” problems by answering questions specific to the resolution of that particular challenge and context: that the questions and answers themselves mysteriously, one might say, alchemically, combine to create the solution when guided by spiritual principle. 

Hence “solution” in this light is not like marking the correct answer to a multiple choice question, neither is it to generate or share thought absent the guidance of spiritual principle.  Should we look at the word “solution” metaphorically, as either a kind of chemical reaction or electrical interaction, we see a solution emerging from the creative mix of questions and answers, or their mutual attraction, that brings about a third reality, as hydrogen and oxygen, two gases, that when properly combined atomically bring about water, and current and filament create light.  This is the alchemy of spiritual principle and human thought.

There is no equivalent in consultation to following legal precedent, no authority of history to obey.  Too, personal inspiration is no reliable guide to truth.  Rather, the same process of collectively discovering truth is undertaken and applied afresh.   The process of consultation itself is the authority, because every problem has its own solution.  As Baha’u’llah stated in a larger context: “Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah: 213)

Also, if the decision came from a consultation carried out in a spirit of service to a friend and with love and unity, then celestial aid is promised the obedient actor, leaving an unmistakable trail of the light of spirit.  This does not make the decision an infallible one, for it is not pure divine knowledge, only guided by it.  But it is true as a divinely-guided, truth-informed, unfolding process of investigation and reflection leading toward a desired goal.

The purpose of consultation is the collective investigation and finding of the truth, and, then, making a decision, devising a solution, to a problem or challenge.  We said above that this process may be viewed as constructing a context for truth to appear.  But that context extends into the realm of action.  We have reached the point in our discussion of making the decision.  But if the decision is not infallible, how will the truth or error of the decision be known?  The truth is revealed in action that obediently carries out the decision.  Here we enter the realm of the new social responsibilities that consultation lays upon those engaging in it, and the principle of unity emerges as a guiding principle not only of thought, but also of behavior.