Oneness of Humanity
Humanity is One Family:
The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, p. 250)
Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch. Deal
ye one with another with the utmost love and harmony, with friendliness
and fellowship.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, p. 288)
Baha'u'llah has addressed the world of humanity, saying, "Verily, ye
are the fruits of one tree and the leaves of one branch." This
signifies that the entire world of humanity is one tree. The
various nations and peoples are the branches of that tree.
Individual members of mankind are represented by the twigs and blossoms.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 373)
A fundamental teaching of Baha'u'llah is the oneness of the world of
humanity. Addressing mankind, He says, "Ye are all leaves of one
tree and the fruits of one branch." By this it is meant that the
world of humanity is like a tree, the nations or peoples are the
different limbs or branches of that tree, and the individual human
creatures are as the fruits and blossoms thereof. In this way
Baha'u'llah expressed the oneness of humankind, whereas in all
religious teachings of the past the human world has been represented as
divided into two parts: one known as the people of the Book of
God, or the pure tree, and the other the people of infidelity and
error, or the evil tree. The former were considered as belonging
to the faithful, and the others to the hosts of the irreligious and
infidel - one part of humanity the recipients of divine mercy, and the
other the object of the wrath of their Creator. Baha'u'llah
removed this by proclaiming the oneness of the world of humanity, and
this principle is specialized in His teachings, for He has submerged
all mankind in the sea of divine generosity.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 454)
Baha'u'llah taught the Oneness of humanity; that is to say, all the
children of men are under the mercy of the Great God. They are
the sons of one God; they are trained by God. He has placed the
crown of humanity on the head of every one of the servants of
God. Therefore all nations and peoples must consider themselves
brethren. They are all descendants from Adam. They are the
branches, leaves, flowers and fruits of One Tree.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Abdu'l-Baha in London, p. 28)
In the creative plan there is no racial distinction and separation such
as Frenchman, Englishman, American, German, Italian or Spaniard; all
belong to one household. These boundaries and distinctions are
human and artificial, not natural and original. All mankind are the
fruits of one tree, flowers of the same garden, waves of one sea.
In the animal kingdom no such distinction and separation are observed.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 118)
With reference to your question as to the meaning of the passage of `he
who loves his kind', the statement of Baha'u'llah does not refer to any
special race or class of people. Rather it includes the entire
human race, irrespective of any class, creed or colour. The
Message of Baha'u'llah is not a particularistic appeal to a group of
people. It is a Universal Message and all-inclusive appeal.
His principle of the oneness of mankind is world-wide in its spirit, in
its application, and covers the entire field of human relationships.
(Shoghi Effendi: Lights of Guidance, p. 481)
Duty to Unite the Human Race:
It is incumbent upon all the peoples of the world to reconcile their
differences, and, with perfect unity and peace, abide beneath the
shadow of the Tree of His care and loving-kindness.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, p. 6)
O contending peoples and kindreds of the earth! Set your faces
towards unity, and let the radiance of its light shine upon you.
Gather ye together, and for the sake of God resolve to root out
whatever is the source of contention amongst you. Then will the
effulgence of the world's great Luminary envelop the whole earth, and
its inhabitants become the citizens of one city, and the occupants of
one and the same throne.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, p. 217)
O CHILDREN OF MEN! Know ye not why We [God] created you all from the
same dust? That no one should exalt himself over the other.
Ponder at all times in your hearts how ye were created. Since We
have created you all from one same substance it is incumbent on you to
be even as one soul, to walk with the same feet, eat with the same
mouth and dwell in the same land, that from your inmost being, by your
deeds and actions, the signs of oneness and the essence of detachment
may be made manifest. Such is My counsel to you, O concourse of
light! Heed ye this counsel that ye may obtain the fruit of
holiness from the tree of wondrous glory.
(Baha'u'llah: Arabic Hidden Words, p. 68)
We must use these powers in establishing the oneness of the world of
humanity, appreciate these virtues by accomplishing the unity of whites
and blacks, devote this divine intelligence to the perfecting of amity
and accord among all branches of the human family so that under the
protection and providence of God the East and West may hold each
other's hands and become as lovers. Then will mankind be as one
nation, one race and kind - as waves of one ocean.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 51)
The Baha'i Faith Unites Humanity:
The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is
to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and
to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, p. 215)
The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable
unless and until its unity is firmly established. This unity can
never be achieved so long as the counsels which the Pen of the Most
High hath revealed are suffered to pass unheeded.
Through the power of the words He hath uttered
the whole of the human race can be illumined with the light of unity,
and the remembrance of His Name is able to set on fire the hearts of
all men, and burn away the veils that intervene between them and His
glory.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, pp. 286-287)
Of the principles enshrined in these Tablets the most vital of them all
is the principle of the oneness and wholeness of the human race, which
may well be regarded as the hall-mark of Baha'u'llah's Revelation and
the pivot of His teachings. Of such cardinal importance is this
principle of unity that it is expressly referred to in the Book of His
Covenant, and He unreservedly proclaims it as the central purpose of
His Faith.
(Shoghi Effendi: God Passes By, pp. 216-217)
The principle of the Oneness of Mankind - the pivot round which all the
teachings of Baha'u'llah revolve - is no mere outburst of ignorant
emotionalism or an expression of vague and pious hope. Its appeal
is not to be merely identified with a reawakening of the spirit of
brotherhood and good-will among men, nor does it aim solely at the
fostering of harmonious cooperation among individual peoples and
nations. Its implications are deeper, its claims greater than any
which the Prophets of old were allowed to advance. Its message is
applicable not only to the individual, but concerns itself primarily
with the nature of those essential relationships that must bind all the
states and nations as members of one human family. It does not
constitute merely the enunciation of an ideal, but stands inseparably
associated with an institution adequate to embody its truth,
demonstrate its validity, and perpetuate its influence. It
implies an organic change in the structure of present-day society, a
change such as the world has not yet experienced. It constitutes
a challenge, at once bold and universal, to outworn shibboleths of
national creeds - creeds that have had their day and which must, in the
ordinary course of events as shaped and controlled by Providence, give
way to a new gospel, fundamentally different from, and infinitely
superior to, what the world has already conceived. It calls for no less
than the reconstruction and the demilitarization of the whole civilized
world - a world organically unified in all the essential aspects of its
life, its political machinery, its spiritual aspiration, its trade and
finance, its script and language, and yet infinite in the diversity of
the national characteristics of its federated units.
It represents the consummation of human
evolution - an evolution that has had its earliest beginnings in the
birth of family life, its subsequent development in the achievement of
tribal solidarity, leading in turn to the constitution of the
city-state, and expanding later into the institution of independent and
sovereign nations.
The principle of the Oneness of Mankind, as
proclaimed by Baha'u'llah, carries with it no more and no less than a
solemn assertion that attainment to this final stage in this stupendous
evolution is not only necessary but inevitable, that its realization is
fast approaching, and that nothing short of a power that is born of God
can succeed in establishing it.
(Shoghi Effendi: World Order of Baha'u'llah, pp. 42-43)
Guidelines for Uniting Humanity:
Let not a man glory in this, that he loves his country; let him rather glory in this, that he loves his kind....
(Baha'u'llah: Peace, p. 157)
Address yourselves to the promotion of the well-being and tranquillity
of the children of men. Bend your minds and wills to the education of
the peoples and kindreds of the earth, that haply the dissensions that
divide it may, through the power of the Most Great Name, be blotted out
from its face, and all mankind become the upholders of one Order, and
the inhabitants of one City. Illumine and hallow your hearts; let
them not be profaned by the thorns of hate or the thistles of
malice. Ye dwell in one world, and have been created through the
operation of one Will. Blessed is he who mingleth with all men in
a spirit of utmost kindliness and love.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, pp. 333-334)
"Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of
friendliness and fellowship." Whatsoever hath led the children of
men to shun one another, and hath caused dissensions and divisions
amongst them, hath, through the revelation of these words, been
nullified and abolished.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, p. 95)
The day is approaching when all the peoples of the world will have
adopted one universal language and one common script. When this
is achieved, to whatsoever city a man may journey, it shall be as if he
were entering his own home. These things are obligatory and
absolutely essential. It is incumbent upon every man of insight
and understanding to strive to translate that which hath been written
into reality and action.... That one indeed is a man who, today,
dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The
Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to
promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the
earth. In another passage He hath proclaimed: It is not for
him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who
loveth the whole world.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, pp. 249-250)
Beware lest the desires of the flesh and of a corrupt inclination
provoke divisions among you. Be ye as the fingers of one hand,
the members of one body. Thus counselleth you the Pen of
Revelation, if ye be of them that believe.
(Baha'u'llah: The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 40)
O people of Justice! Be as brilliant as the light, and as
splendid as the fire that blazed in the Burning Bush. The
brightness of the fire of your love will no doubt fuse and unify the
contending peoples and kindreds of the earth, whilst the fierceness of
the flame of enmity and hatred cannot but result in strife and ruin.
(Baha'u'llah: Gleanings, p. 96)
O humankind! Verily, ye are all the leaves and fruits of one
tree; ye are all one. Therefore, associate in friendship; love
one another; abandon prejudices of race; dispel forever this gloomy
darkness of human ignorance, for the century of light, the Sun of
Reality hath appeared. Now is the time for affiliation, and now
is the period of unity and concord. For thousands of years ye
have been contending in warfare and strife. It is enough.
Now is the time for unity. Lay aside all self-purposes, and know
for a certainty that all men are the servants of one God Who will bind
them together in love and agreement.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 322)
Behold a beautiful garden full of flowers, shrubs, and trees.
Each flower has a different charm, a peculiar beauty, its own delicious
perfume and beautiful colour. The trees too, how varied are they in
size, in growth, in foliage - and what different fruits they
bear! Yet all these flowers, shrubs and trees spring from the
self-same earth, the same sun shines upon them and the same clouds give
them rain.
So it is with humanity. It is made up of
many races, and its peoples are of different colour, white, black,
yellow, brown and red - but they all come from the same God, and all
are servants to Him. This diversity among the children of men has
unhappily not the same effect as it has among the vegetable creation,
where the spirit shown is more harmonious. Among men exists the
diversity of animosity, and it is this that causes war and hatred among
the different nations of the world.
Differences which are only those of blood also
cause them to destroy and kill one another. Alas! that this
should still be so. Let us look rather at the beauty in
diversity, the beauty of harmony, and learn a lesson from the vegetable
creation. If you beheld a garden in which all the plants were the
same as to form, colour and perfume, it would not seem beautiful to you
at all, but, rather, monotonous and dull. The garden which is
pleasing to the eye and which makes the heart glad, is the garden in
which are growing side by side flowers of every hue, form and perfume,
and the joyous contrast of colour is what makes for charm and
beauty. So is it with trees. An orchard full of fruit trees
is a delight; so is a plantation planted with many species of
shrubs. It is just the diversity and variety that constitutes its
charm; each flower, each tree, each fruit, beside being beautiful in
itself, brings out by contrast the qualities of the others, and shows
to advantage the special loveliness of each and all.
Thus should it be among the children of
men! The diversity in the human family should be the cause of
love and harmony, as it is in music where many different notes blend
together in the making of a perfect chord. If you meet those of
different race and colour from yourself, do not mistrust them and
withdraw yourself into your shell of conventionality, but rather be
glad and show them kindness. Think of them as different coloured
roses growing in the beautiful garden of humanity, and rejoice to be
among them.
Likewise, when you meet those whose opinions
differ from your own, do not turn away your face from them. All
are seeking truth, and there are many roads leading thereto.
Truth has many aspects, but it remains always and forever one.
Do not allow difference of opinion, or
diversity of thought to separate you from your fellow-men, or to be the
cause of dispute, hatred and strife in your hearts.
Rather, search diligently for the truth and make all men your friends.
Every edifice is made of many different
stones, yet each depends on the other to such an extent that if one
were displaced the whole building would suffer; if one is faulty the
structure is imperfect.
Baha'u'llah has drawn the circle of unity, He
has made a design for the uniting of all the peoples, and for the
gathering of them all under the shelter of the tent of universal
unity. This is the work of the Divine Bounty, and we must all
strive with heart and soul until we have the reality of unity in our
midst, and as we work, so will strength be given unto us. Leave
all thought of self, and strive only to be obedient and submissive to
the Will of God. In this way only shall we become citizens of the
Kingdom of God, and attain unto life everlasting.
(`Abdu'l-Baha: Paris Talks, pp. 52-54)
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Bahá’ís
of Dana Point, California, USA - all rights reserved.