The Indian believers have a great opportunity to compete with both the American and British Baha'is in pioneer services; they already have a record to be proud of, and are first among the countries of the East in the record they hold of achievements in this field. He hopes they will go on from victory to victory, and vindicate the high hopes he cherishes for their future.
If the National Assembly is sure that it was Siyyid Mustafa Roumie's wish to be buried next to his wife in Mandalay, then you should, by all means, arrange for the interment of his remains there. A befitting memorial can then be erected over the vault. The spirit of this great and valiant teacher surely watches over the land of his adoption, and will aid the Burmese believers in their efforts to rebuild their centres and promulgate the Cause of God there.
As we see the confusion in the world spreading, and the hatreds that divide men augmenting steadily, we, as the trustees of our Lord's glorious Faith, must rise to higher levels of self-sacrifice and devotion. He prays that the Indian believers may achieve wonderful victories for Baha'u'llah in the months that lie ahead, and prove themselves worthy of the great destiny that beckons to them.
Unstinted Devotion Displayed
[From the Guardian:]
The perseverance, the tenacity, the unstinted devotion displayed consistently by the Indian Baha'i Community, so clearly demonstrated by the reports recently received by their national elected representatives, are truly exhilarating and augur well for the future of the Plan. The members of this Community, however, must not be content with the standard already achieved, but must exert themselves ever more determinedly and unitedly to fulfil the high hopes cherished for the success of their collective enterprise. The Burmese Baha'i Community, which they are so devotedly striving to rehabilitate, must, likewise participate without reserve, in the glorious task that confronts them, and demonstrate, thereby, its virility and resilience in the face of the trials and obstacles which it has had to struggle against in the past. The establishment of new centres in Burma, the consolidation of the reinstated Assemblies, are both equally vital and urgent. The verities of the Faith must be proclaimed, its literature must be disseminated and its institutions reinforced and multiplied throughout that land. Both communities must collaborate and through sustained, vigorous and systematic effort and mutual assistance lend an unprecedented impetus to the onward march of the Faith in India and Burma. The greater the effort and self-sacrifice, the richer the benefits that will accrue, and the more potent the blessings that will be vouchsafed from on high. The goals are clearly defined. The prizes to be won are within reach and inexpressibly glorious. Time is running out and the opportunity is priceless. The promise of Divine unfailing assistance is assured. All are challenged to arise, to toil and to persevere, until their solemn pledge under the Plan is completely and totally fulfilled. That they may prove themselves worthy of their high mission is my fervent hope and constant prayer.
October 12, 1946
More Pioneers to Go Forth
He has been very encouraged to see the way the Indian, and now the Burmese friends have responded to his repeated call for greater sacrifice and for more pioneers to go forth into the teaching field. Your country is so vast that less valiant hearts than those possessed by the indomitable Baha'is might well have quailed before the tasks to be undertaken. But, on the contrary, the Indian and Burmese friends have arisen and demonstrated the calibre of their faith and courage in a manner which excites the admiration of their fellow Baha'is East and West.
Now is not the time to rest on their oars, but rather to re-double their efforts and go on from victory to victory, and to add new fame to their exploits, conscious that the eyes of their fellow-believers are focussed upon them to see what they will achieve next.
He was particularly happy to see how active the beloved Burmese friends are, and that through the efforts of some members of their Community and Indian friends they have now established a new centre in Kyigone, where a Spiritual Assembly can exist. This is a great step forward, and he hopes many new Baha'i Assemblies will be developed in Burma during the coming Baha'i year.
He was also very pleased to hear of the book exhibit held in Kolhapur, and of the interest shown in our Baha'i literature by persons of standing in the Community. Such exhibitions offer a great opportunity to show the public what the Cause is doing and what it stands for, and every advantage of them should be taken.
Although your Assembly has succeeded in getting out a number of new language publications, you should not relax for a moment in your efforts to translate and publish the New Era in the remaining languages chosen, as this work is of the utmost importance, enables you to teach new language groups the Faith, and adds to the prestige of the Cause not only in India but abroad. Although you have many obstacles to overcome the results in the future will be great.
He cannot impress too strongly upon the friends the need for action: they must arise in still greater numbers to pioneer; those who cannot go themselves should remember the admonition of Baha'u'llah and send, through the N.S.A., someone in their stead; the young people should learn to teach and go forth in the field in the days of their youth and receive this great blessing; more qualified teachers should arise, and circulate among the new and weak Assemblies in order to consolidate them.
[From the Guardian:]
The rich and varied material which you have been forwarding during recent months to the Holy Land proclaim and demonstrate, beyond the shadow of a doubt the assiduous care, the magnificent devotion, the exemplary fidelity, the increased efficiency with which you are conducting the affairs, and consolidating the activities of a steadily growing community.
My heart swells with gratitude as I witness, in so many fields, the striking evidences of the growth, the multiplication and establishment of highly diversified communities throughout the length and breadth of India and Burma, the expansion of Baha'i literature, the rise of new institutions, the growing consciousness and solidarity of the teachers and administrators of the Faith, and of the contact that is being established between them and the great masses of their countrymen, at so critical a period in their history. However much these communities have already achieved, they cannot afford, for a moment, to rest content with the laurels that they have won. Spurred on by these initial and superb victories-victories unprecedented in the annals of their Faith in that land-they must press on, more diligently than ever, to reinforce their unity, to deepen their understanding of the spiritual verities of their Faith and of the administrative principles underlying its new world order, to multiply its nascent institutions, to broadcast its Message, to disseminate its literature, to exemplify its spirit, to proclaim its truths, and to swell the ranks of its unreserved supporters. The greater the effort they exert along these lines, the more abundant the measure of celestial grace that will be vouchsafed to them from on high. That they may go from strength to strength, that they may add still more glorious chapters to the distinguished record of their immortal services to the Cause of Baha'u'llah is my constant prayer and the most cherished desire of my heart.
March 13, 1947
Esslemont Book in Karen Language
He advises you to make every effort to have the Esslemont book translated into Karen at present, and to persevere in your attempts to find someone to translate it into Chin in the future. He urges you to make a supreme effort to complete these translations and publication of the Esslemont book in the remaining chosen languages.
Rules & Regulations Should Not Be Multiplied
You may not perhaps know that in connection with all National Assemblies the Guardian is advising that rules and regulations should not be multiplied and new statements on "procedure" issued; we should be elastic in details and rigid in principles; consequently he does not want your Assembly to issue statements of a binding nature unless absolutely necessary.... It is only those who have been spiritually ex-communicated by the Guardian with whom the believers are forbidden to associate, and not a person who is being punished by being deprived of his voting rights.
As contributions to Baha'i funds are used to support the administration of the Faith, they should not be accepted from those who are deprived of their voting rights; but such believers, should not be prevented from being buried in a Baha'i Cemetery or receiving charity-which we even give to non-Baha'is-if in dire need.
Added Responsibility
As the N.S.A. of Persia is, it would seem, unable to send pioneers to Bahrayn or Afghanistan, he fully approves of your Assembly doing so, if some of the dear Indian believers are willing to assume this added responsibility and perform this valuable service, highly meritorious in the sight of God.
The recent news conveyed to him by you of the achievement of the immediate goals that lay before the Indian and Burmese Baha'is, pleased him greatly.
He feels that the Community of believers there, as they see their own Plan developing and their own labours bearing fruit, their fame spreading amongst their sister-communities and their star rising in the heaven of the Baha'i world, are now acquiring a new zest for teaching, and are ever more ready to sacrifice themselves in order to win complete victory for their Plan! This pleases him greatly and encourages him to believe the future of the dear Indian and Burmese believers is very bright.
He was also delighted and relieved to hear that unity was achieved at Convention amongst the friends, and that all of them have resolved to put away childish differences, unworthy of them as servants and custodians of our glorious Faith in that great country, and unitedly strive for the good of the Cause and the successful completion of their sacred tasks.
He wishes once more to impress upon your Assembly the great importance of immediately finding and purchasing, and moving into, a befitting Hazira in Delhi. This will bring upon the entire community great confirmations.
Threshold of a New Epoch
[From the Guardian:]
The perusal of your Annual Report and the messages conveyed by the elected representatives of the Indian and Burmese Baha'i communities, assembled at Convention, have served to deepen my sense of admiration for the work collectively achieved by the members of these communities, and of my gratitude for the magnificent qualities they display, and for the spirit which so powerfully animates them in their stewardship to the Faith of Baha'u'llah.
They now stand on the threshold of a new epoch in the history of the evolution of the Administrative Order in their land. The transfer of the central institution of that Order to the capital of India; the wide measure of centralization which this historic step must needs involve; the purchase of a befitting seat for the ever expanding activities and multiplying agencies of that institution in that same capital, the progressive transfer of the national committees to the national Haziratu'l-Quds-all these must synchronize with a remarkable, and indeed unprecedented, intensification of effort in the pioneer field of Baha'i activity, as well as in the sphere of public teaching, designed to arouse the masses and proclaim the verities of the Faith throughout the length and breadth of that subcontinent and its adjoining territory of Burma.
In this twofold activity, supporting directly and indirectly the interests of the Plan, committed to your charge, the Hindu, the Moslem, the Burmese and Zoroastrian believers must jointly, unitedly, and effectively participate. The minority elements in these ever-expanding communities must be continually stimulated, encouraged, trained and in some cases, as when an equal number of ballots have been cast in an election, given priority, in order to reinforce the representative character of Baha'i institutions, demonstrate the distinction of these institutions from all other man-made agencies, and win, to an ever-increasing degree, the sympathy and support of the teeming masses of Hindu and Moslem extraction, on whose adherence to the Faith, the ultimate progress, establishment, and triumph of the Cause of Baha'u'llah must chiefly depend.
Courage, good-will, resolution, self-abnegation, are imperatively required, at this momentous stage in the evolution of these nascent communities, who, having reared, with assiduous care, the machinery of their Administrative Order, and launched the Plan which the institutions of that Order are now so efficiently promoting, have arisen to initiate a crusade which, as it gathers momentum, must embrace all the diversified races, classes and creeds of that vast country, and its adjoining territories. May the impelling power of the Faith which they champion enable them to surmount every obstacle, and reach their destined goal.
May 8, 1947
Set the Highest Example of Tolerance