Introduction

    I Consort with the followers of all religions

    We have erewhile declared - and Our Word is the truth - : "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. From the heaven of God's Will, and for the purpose of ennobling the world of being and of elevating the minds and souls of men, hath been sent down that which is the most effective instrument for the education of the whole human race.
 (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 94-95)

    II No Proselytizing

    O SON OF DUST!
     The wise are they that speak not unless they obtain a hearing, even as the cup-bearer, who proffereth not his cup till he findeth a seeker, and the lover who crieth not out from the depths of his heart until he gazeth upon the beauty of his beloved. Wherefore sow the seeds of wisdom and knowledge in the pure soil of the heart, and keep them hidden, till the hyacinths of divine wisdom spring from the heart and not from mire and clay. In the first line of the Tablet it is recorded and written, and within the sanctuary of the tabernacle of God is hidden.
 (Bahá'u'lláh,The Persian Hidden Words, No. 36)

How Bahá'ís spread their Faith

    Although forbidden by Bahá'u'lláh from aggressive proselytizing, Bahá'ís believe that His message offers specific and important answers to the diverse and grave problems facing humanity. Accordingly, they are eager to share this message with anyone who expresses and interest.
 (Baha'i International Community, The Baha'is, p. 11)
 

Four areas for presentation: (Quotations from Bahá'í Sacred Writings are in italics)

1.  A brief outline of the Bahá'í Faith:

    •    The Bahá'í Faith is a distinct religion based on Divine Revelation rather than a sect of one of the other great traditions or an artificial blend of many.

    •    The central teachings of the Bahá'í Faith are the

     •    Bahá'u'lláh teaches:
          •    that religious truth is not absolute, but relative
          •    that divine Revelation is a continuous and progressive process
          •    that all the great religions of the world are divine in origin
          •    that their missions represent successive stages in the spiritual evolution of human society.

    •    The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind.  He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. 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. We can well perceive how the whole human race is encompassed with great, with incalculable afflictions. We see it languishing on its bed of sickness, sore-tried and disillusioned.  They that are intoxicated by self-conceit have interposed themselves between it and the Divine and infallible Physician.  Witness how they have entangled all men, themselves included, in the mesh of their devices.  They can neither discover the cause of the disease, nor have they any knowledge of the remedy.  They have conceived the straight to be crooked, and have imagined their friend an enemy.

    •    Bahá'u'lláh taught that religion and science can be seen as the two wings of a bird, both of which are necessary for flight. Religion that contradicts or is opposed to science is ignorance, for ignorance is opposite to knowledge.

    •    When ill, Bahá'ís refer to competent, conscientious physicians and follow their advice. Healing is seen to consist of both material and spiritual processes; both are essential and complementary.

    •    There are no clergy in the Bahá'í Faith.
 

2. An outline of the relationship of the spirit and the body, specifically focussing on the role of prayer in healing:

    •    There are two ways of healing sickness, material means and spiritual means. The first is by treatment of physicians; the second consisteth in prayers offered by the spiritual ones to God and in turning to Him. Both means should be used and practised. Illnesses which occur by reason of physical  causes should be treated by doctors with medical remedies; those which are due to spiritual causes disappear through spiritual means.

    •    Disease is of two kinds, material and spiritual. For instance, a cut on the hand - if you pray for the cut to be healed, and do not stop its bleeding, you will not do much good; this needs a material remedy. Sometimes, if the nervous system is paralysed through fear, a spiritual remedy is necessary... It often happens that sorrow makes one ill. That illness can be cured by spiritual means.

    •    Matters related to man's spirit have a great effect on his bodily condition.

    •    Whenever ye fall ill, refer to competent physicians... Whatever the competent physicians or surgeons prescribe for a patient must be accepted and complied with.
 

3. Bahá'í beliefs on the nature of the soul and the afterlife:

    •    Verily I say, the human soul is, in its essence, one of the signs of God, a mystery among His mysteries.

    •    ... with the human soul, there is no decline. Its only movement is towards perfection; growth and progress alone constitute the motion of the soul.  Divine perfection is infinite, therefore the progress of the soul is also infinite.

    •    The Prophets and Messengers of God have been sent down for the sole purpose of guiding mankind to the straight Path of Truth.  The purpose underlying Their revelation hath been to educate all men, that they may, at the hour of death, ascend, in the utmost purity and sanctity and with absolute detachment, to the throne of the Most High.

    •    A friend asked:  "How should one look forward  to death?"  `Abdu'l-Bahá answered:  "How does one look  forward to the goal of any journey?  With hope and with expectation."
 

4. Bahá'í funeral practices:

    •    The body is not to be embalmed unless required by law (and then only to preserve the body for a short period of time);

    •    Cremation is forbidden;

    •    Interment must take place within one hour's travel time from the city or town where death occurs;

    •    Bahá'ís may donate their bodies or organs to medical science, but provisions must be made to treat the remains with dignity and bury the remains within one hour's travel from the place of death.

    •    A specific "Prayer for the Dead" revealed by Bahá'u'lláh is the only essential element of the Bahá'í Funeral Service which can take place either in a chapel or at the graveside.

    •    More guidance is available at "Baha'i Funeral Practices".
 

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