Universal Education
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Honouring Teachers
After immediate family, and the closest of friends, the most important people in our lives are often ours teachers. How much we are indebted to them. If we have been fortunate enough to have special teachers – who saw something in us that others hadn’t seen – and nurtured it in us – we remember and treasure them all our lives. Abdu’l Baha states: Among the greatest of all services that can possibly be rendered by man to Almighty God is the education and training of children …[1] And: The education and training of children is among the most meritorious acts of humankind and draweth down the grace and favor…
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Higher Learning – Science and Peace
During his journey through North America Abdu’l Baha visited a number of universities. He spoke at Columbia University in New York, Howard University in Washington DC and Stanford University in Palo Alto. Much of my life is associated with universities. So these talks have special meaning at a personal level. Particularly at Columbia and Stanford, Abdu’l Baha’s spoke about science and peace – another implication of harmony of science and religion. At Howard University – at the time a university established to provide educational opportunities for African American students – Abdu’l Baha spoke of oneness of humanity and the importance of love between black and white Americans. At Colombia University, Abdu’l Baha…
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Bahá’u’lláh on Knowledge
How do we know? What does it mean to know? These are deceptively simple but important questions and the answers are by no means straight forward. Knowledge, moreover, is at the heart of human welfare. The first of Bahá’u’lláh’s Arabic Hidden Words links knowledge and justice. The best beloved of all things in My sight is Justice; turn not away therefrom if thou desirest Me, and neglect it not that I may confide in thee. By its aid thou shalt see with thine own eyes and not through the eyes of others, and shalt know of thine own knowledge and not through the knowledge of thy neighbor.[1] And justice in turn…
