Baha’u’llah, born in Persia in 1817, was both the founder of the Baha’i faith, and a self-proclaimed ‘manifestation of God’, the ninth in the succession of the world’s great spiritual teachers, which includes Buddha, Christ and Mohammed. He said that his predecessors were all teachers for their times, and that similarly he was the teacher for this time in history. And even though he was teaching and writing in the nineteenth century, his words ring eerily true of the world today.

A central tenet of his teaching is that the current state of our materialistic civilization is not sustainable, that it will destroy itself, and that a golden age of spiritual enlightenment will follow.

He warns us that we have become immoderate in our desires, and that if carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it had been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation.

He lets us know with uncanny prescience that strange and astonishing things exist in the earth but they are hidden from the minds and understanding of men. These things are capable of changing the whole atmosphere of earth and their contamination would prove lethal.

He begs us to see the true condition of the Earth. Witness how the world is being afflicted with a fresh calamity every day. Its tribulation is continually deepening. At one time it hath been agitated by contentions and disputes, at another it hath been convulsed by wars, and fallen a victim to inveterate diseases. Its sickness is approaching the stage of utter hopelessness, inasmuch as the True Physician is debarred from administering the remedy, whilst unskilled practitioners are regarded with favor.

He lets us know that we are close to calamity, a calamity of our own making. The promised day is come, the day when tormenting trials will have surged above your heads, and beneath your feet, saying: ‘Taste ye what your hands have wrought!’ (Civilization’s) flame will devour the cities.

He tells us that the essence of the problem is that we have collectively abandoned a spiritual view of reality and adopted a materialistic view of the purpose of life. We need urgently to revert to seeing reality through the eyes of spirit, not least because all the material goods that we desire and acquire come ultimately from the Earth, whose resources are rapidly dwindling.

We need to understand that connection with God and the spirituality of true religion is essential for our wellbeing, because it brings care for each other, care for the Earth and meaning and purpose to life.

His teachings contain many clear and explicit principles for the conduct of individuals and nations, the kinds of conduct that will be the necessary foundation of the golden age. He exhorts us to start following these principles now in our daily lives. If we do, the collapse of civilization will not be as extreme, and we will have the understanding and skills needed to create the age to come. He aims to confer that which is conducive to true living.

First and most crucial, we need to turn to God and humbly approach him for guidance. As Baha’u’llah says, the All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. No matter what is before us, God’s guidance reveals the precise action needed to perfectly meet every moment of life.

We also must know the Oneness of God, the Oneness of Earth and the oneness of all upon it. We need to know beyond doubt that we are one people of one planet, the children of one God practicing one spiritually-true religion.

When we truly know that Oneness, then we naturally desire to preserve the Earth. We use her resources sustainably, preserving them for generations to come. Sustainability becomes even more possible when we add Baha’u’llah’s principle of moderation in all things.

Baha’u’llah adds to that the principle of equality, where all people know that all others are equal to them, whatever the outward differences. This especially applies to relationships between men and women.

Another principle is the harmonizing of religion and science. It is essential that religion let go of superstitious beliefs that have been disproven by science, and that science remain true to the scientific method. As individuals we need to embrace both the letting go of superstition and the imitation of others, and do our own independent investigation so that we can be aligned with the truth as we understand it. We need to investigate and find the truth of matters for ourselves.

Yet another principle is the importance of spiritual education for children, developing their loving concern for each other and for the planet while helping them attain not just knowledge, but wisdom.

Another principle is that of justice, in other words asking of all of our actions if they are right, good, true and fair, and modifying them until they unequivocally meet those standards. Only then should we act.

Fairness is particularly important, as it suggests that resources must be fairly shared among all people on the planet.  This eliminates the highly destructive extremes of poverty and wealth that are part of our current civilization.

Another principle is that of consultation. Baha’u’llah describes an entirely democratic decision-making process defined by the full and frank participation of the entire community of people who have an interest in the matter at hand. Every individual has the right and responsibility to have and offer his or her opinion, and then to vote on the merits of the ideas that have been expressed. Everyone has a respected voice in the process and contributes to the final decision. This method of consultation can be used for any number of participants, from families to communities to nations.

In terms of reducing the suffering in the world, perhaps the most important principle is that of universal peace. This peace would be upheld by global governance, promoted by and promoting an international agreement by all countries to end all war.

These spiritual principles given by Baha’u’llah can be applied to all situations in life. They are the means to cure the spiritual ills that currently afflict humanity. Our social sickness is in fact a spiritual sickness, a loss of the spiritual basis of existence. When we apply these practical spiritual principles to our lives, we can be assured of the best possible outcomes.

Above all, whatever we do, we need to do it without anger, hostility or violence. Instead, we must make love and unity our highest priorities and proceed with the utmost kindness.

Baha’u’llah has assured us that even with a collapse of our way of life, humanity will survive. Even though at times he predicts the possibility of a great destruction of civilization, in other places he clearly assumes that we will still have a world of nations and states, with communication and co-operation between them. He indicates that what needs to be extinguished are our materialistic values and all that they create, not necessarily all aspects of our civilization.

He tells that that we will live through the crises that convulse the world, and will witness the birth and development of a divine world civilization, providing and sustaining all that is good. But the details are up to us. The sooner and more energetically we act on the principles he has given us, the sooner we will experience that glorious golden age.

Sources

Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice 

Baha’u’llah & Shoghi Effendi, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah 

Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come

Steven E. Ellis, Road Trip Home: A Baha’i Vision of Hope