Sampling Luxuries

Can happiness be bought? To find out, author Benjamin Wallace sampled the world's most expensive products, including a bottle of 1947 Chateau Cheval Blanc, 8 ounces of Kobe beef and the fabled (notorious) Kopi Luwak coffee. His critique may surprise you.

Who put the Pan in Panorthosia?

Comenius on the Difference between Reform and Universal Reform

By John Taylor; 2008 Dec 22, 11 Masa'il 165 BE

If we are ever to respond adequately to the challenges of this Twenty-First Century, then science, religion, politics and most especially education will have to be far more all-encompassing in approach.

 

That is why I have such a strong affinity for the 16th Century Moravian educational reformer Jan Amos Comenius. To use the example of transportation, anybody who gets a job in anything to do with the transportation industry should be licensed so as to be certain that they have been introduced to the universal problems of transportation. For example, a car salesperson should have a general understanding of airlines, shipping and rail as well as automobiles. Teachers could instil a broader outlook quickly and economically by using computer games and other simulations.

This would reduce the prejudices of partisan loyalty, as well as increasing the flexibility of employment opportunities. When that car salesperson loses her job, she would be qualified for a wider variety of positions in the transport industry than just selling cars. The benefit for society is that it would avoid destructive competition among transport sectors, as when lobbyists for the trucking industry nullified train transport out of bald self-interest at the expense of overall efficiency, or when labor unions block the containerization of large ports, or when automobile interests bought up and scrapped trams and tramways, and so forth.

This broadening of perspective Comenius called universality, and he applied it not only to education but to reform in general.

Today I want to look at Comenius's definition of reform and how he distinguishes between that and universal reform. This he presents especially in the fifth chapter of "Universal Reform," or "Panorthosia" in Latin. Here is how he defines what he calls Orthosis, or reform:

"Reform is the restoration to its rightful state of a good thing which has begun to be corrupted. It must have three components, a Subject of Reform, a Reformer, and an Agency of Reform. Eventually the act of Reform depends on their interaction and the wisdom duly required to carry it out. We must see what conditions are necessary in all these if Reform is to be successful." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 5, para 2, p. 87)

Reform in Comenius's view is active justice. It is the removal of rot, as it were, taking what is best and cutting off what is not. Reform takes a good thing from disease and restores it to its pure, natural and ideal condition. The problem is that the more advanced the organism, the harder this tends to be.

A chemist may purify minerals and chemicals in total isolation from their surroundings. However, higher organisms are much more difficult to separate it from the context and surroundings that brought them into existence. Hardest of all is the reform of human beings. By far the most daunting prospect is the reformation of the entire human race. But that is just what universal reform sets out to do.

"Panorthosia or universal reform has to deal with the same requirements on a universal scale, namely 1. all subjects of reform, 2. all reformers, 3. all agencies of reform; and the act of reform itself, which shall be thoroughly universal and straightforward and so agreeable." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 5, para 16, p. 93)

When Comenius calls universal reform "straightforward" and "agreeable" he seems to be referring to a sort of economy of scale that universality gives to efforts at reform that go beyond the limitations of exclusivity. Universality is in a sense more characteristic of the human than the piecemeal, Ad Hoc variety of making changes. If it is true that the difference between humans and animals not in that we die but in that we know we will die, then the natural type of reform is not reform but the reform of reform itself. By effecting change on the whole world we learn what is divine in who we are, and because it is divine, it gains its own power to work change for the better.

Universal reform or Panorthosia, then, is a complete change in thinking and education, a way of raising everything to the level of principle, and every principle to the sphere of influence of the entire planet. It is not a kludge, tweak or hack but total reformation, starting with our image of who we are. This is of the nature of reform itself, which has no choice but be as maximally holistic as possible. As Comenius puts it,

i. "If the whole is corrupted, to reform a part is no reform at all. (for the whole will remain useless)."

ii. "To reform only a few among many corruptions is no reform at all. (for the part that is made sound will deteriorate)." (Panorthosia, Ch. V, p. 91)

How does Comenius propose that we attain to this unheard of level holistic understanding? He proposes that we do so by systematically taking everything back to first principles. That is, every conscious act involves a sort of dialectic among knowledge, volition and action. We dealt with this in some detail recently on the Badi' Blog in an essay called "Reform's Trinity: Thought, Will and Works," which is at:

http://badiblog.blogspot.com/2008/12/song-of-peace.html

Knowing that all things of any universal gravity are divided into these three steps allows us to take in the entirety of human understanding, power and enterprise without any fear that we may have left anything out. Comenius proposes a clear, simple "constitution" for each of the three steps.

"But now let us examine Universal Philosophy, Politics and Religion in turn, considering the kind of full, simple, and clear constitution required by each, but treating them in relation to one another to obtain a clearer picture of all three. In doing so we shall always keep in our mind's eye the enlightened purpose which must be achieved universally; then suitable means, as few and simple as possible, but sufficient to achieve this purpose; and lastly easy methods of using the given means so that they may be freely and continuously put into practice." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 10, para 55, p. 174)

Abdu'l-Baha used this generalist methodology in His talks and exposition of what we now call the Baha'i principles. He advised against a narrow approach to change. For example in a letter addressed to a Baha'i who was in contact with the educational reformer Maria Montessori, He advised that in spite of the profound influence of early childhood education on later life, even that cannot be taken as an exclusive solution to everything.

"the human world will not turn into a celestial paradise by the promotion of one thing. The education of children is but one matter. Any useful matter which is the cause of advancement of the world of humanity is like one element. A single element cannot confer life. But once the elements come together, creation taketh place. Thus, Baha'u'llah's Cause and His heavenly Teachings bring together all the perfections which include the education of children; unity of humankind; harmony between religion, science, and reason; equality among all human beings; the breathings of the holy spirit; oneness of women and men; elimination of religious prejudice; heavenly manners; fragrances of the Merciful; universal peace. Thus the Cause of Baha'u'llah combineth all the perfections." (Tablet of Abdu'l-Baha, quoted in Janet Khan, "Louise Dixon Boyle and Maria Montessori," Journal of Baha'i Studies, 16.1/4.2006, pp. 76-77)

Like both Abdu'l-Baha and Socrates, Comenius understood that the only way to panorthosia is by expunging imitation. All kinds of superstition and servile acquiescence to the opinions of others are extremely dangerous. The minds of most men and women need to be trained to be more self reliant,

"The second disadvantage arising from excessive reliance on the guidance of others is an infinite perplexity of opinions, policies, and actions. For so long as some people only wish or know how to follow in the footsteps of others, if they are attached to leaders who have gone wrong, they are bound to go wrong at the same time; if they follow various leaders, it is impossible for them to take their various diversions without uncertainty and perplexity. There is evidence of this in educated nations, where we see that the more schools and books and studies they have, the more they are divided and exhausted by conflicting opinions, so that if there is to be any chance of the reform of our affairs, it is necessary in the first instance that these labyrinths should now be destroyed or closed. (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 9, para 8, p. 146)

Once we move these mental blocks out of the way, the way is clear. The prospects for human reform are bright, Comenius confidently held. Next time let us look at the reasons for his optimism.

-- 

John Taylor

email: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/

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Silvie's Christmas Greetings

A very Merry Christmas to our non-Baha'i friends and relations from Silvie and the Dunnville Taylor clan.

My new favorite evolutionary psychologist

 Here is the exact sense in which this is the best of all possible worlds.


Imagine two futures, one in which you are a moral hero, the other in which you compromise morally. Which is better? Then watch these two videos and answer the question.




Dan Gilbert presents research and data from his exploration of happiness -- sharing some surprising tests and experiments that you can also try on yourself. Watch through to the end for a sparkling Q&A with some familiar TED faces.





 

O Son of Being Rap

O son of Being by the Dawnbreaker Collective




Mana sings words from the long obligatory prayer.

Secrecy and Confidentiality

Crush the Infamy of Treasure Island

By John Taylor; 2008 Dec 21, 10 Masa'il 165 BE

I have been caught up in the bailout crisis and other economic news. I can think of little else these days. I want to share some of the results of my reading. I promised in this series to examine these two questions: How do we go from ignorance to knowledge in economic matters? and, "To what extent is our ignorance a matter of sin, a wilful affront to God, as opposed to a lack of technical know-how?" Judge for yourself how close I am getting to an answer.

Even in my casual literary reading, which has been some novels of Voltaire, I have been getting hints. Here is Voltaire, an 18th Century man that you would think would have nothing to say about current events. Yet I was surprised to come across a cynical quip about the very fellows who brought on the present economic disaster, though it is only attributed to Voltaire and may not be authentic:

"If you see a Swiss banker jumping out of a window, follow him, there is sure to be 10% profit in it."

This comment is spot on. If you see a banker, follow him all the way down because you can bet that he wrote the rules and he is on the way to a huge profit; only the little guy walking around on the sidewalk will be crushed. Not coincidentally, exactly that steady stream of ten percent a year is exactly what Bernard Madoff promised investors for decades, and delivered until a month ago when he turned himself in for what he admitted was a Ponzi Scheme on an unheard of scale.

It is now known that he stole some fifty billion dollars, three times more than the proposed bailout of the big three Detroit automakers. This was by far the longest lasting and most expensive in history, the first truly "world-class," world-embracing swindle. Madoff used the technique that every introductory informal logic class warns against: the old snob appeal come-on. "Our fund is closed," his agents would tell the stooge, "but I can get you in on the ground floor if you treat me well." The only consistent red flag was the complete secrecy in which the fund was wrapped; this cloak over the nature of his investments warned off a wary few. The others were taken in and fleeced.

Paul Krugman, who won the Nobel Prize for economics this year, warned in a recent editorial that Madoff is not an isolated case. This is no bad apple taken out of a barrel of good apples. Rather, the whole investment sector is a stinking, rotten barrel. The baneful influence of bankers and other investors is the heart of the Depression that threatens us all.

"The financial services industry has claimed an ever-growing share of the nations income over the past generation, making the people who run the industry incredibly rich. Yet, at this point, it looks as if much of the industry has been destroying value, not creating it. And it is not just a matter of money: the vast riches achieved by those who managed other peoples money have had a corrupting effect on our society as a whole." (The Madoff Economy, New York Times, December 19, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/19/opinion/19krugman.html?partner=permalink&exprod=permalink)

Bankers' incomes are on average seven times more than the rest of the economy, and twenty million dollar bonuses are not unusual. "The incomes of the richest Americans have exploded over the past generation, even as wages of ordinary workers have stagnated; high pay on Wall Street was a major cause of that divergence." So much money comes their way that it bumps the statistics of the entire economy in their direction,

"We are talking about a lot of money here. In recent years the finance sector accounted for 8 percent of Americas G.D.P., up from less than 5 percent a generation earlier. If that extra 3 percent was money for nothing -- and it probably was -- we are talking about $400 billion a year in waste, fraud and abuse."

The difference between Madoff and the rest of the investment industry is that Madoff skipped a few steps, stealing money directly from his clients. The end result is the same all around, "the money managers got rich; the investors saw their money disappear." "Legitimate" money managers walk off with multi-million dollar bonuses no matter what, even if they ruin their clients and the company they work for. In spite of the dubiousness of their contribution their prestige is actually enhanced by their huge pay checks.

"There is an innate tendency on the part of even the elite to idolize men who are making a lot of money, and assume that they know what they are doing."

As the Bible says, money -- and the love of money -- is the root of all evil. If that is so, then love of those who bring in great amounts of money is surely the trunk and branch of all evil.

With such an ocean of easy money at their disposal, these fat cats were in a perfect position do more damage than just offering a bad example to the world. They used their funds to actively corrupt the political process, most notably making the SEC, the former watchdog into a slobbering lapdog. They propagated the specious appeal of Milton Friedman's philosophy of extreme freedom one greased palm at a time. This, Krugman points out, corrupted not only American culture but its talent pool, since the "magnetic pull of quick personal wealth ... for years has drawn many of our best and brightest young people into investment banking, at the expense of science, public service and just about everything else..."

This the Book of Proverbs calls "whoring and wickedness." What Madoff's agents called it was a "black box." In other words, complete secrecy. Let me share a personal anecdote about secrecy riding on the back of confidentiality.

In October a representative of my bank called me up and told me that my credit card had been "compromised" and they were issuing a new one to me. I asked what business or other agency had done the compromising, and was informed that that is confidential information. So what am I supposed to do with my new credit card number, give it to the same parties who had it before? One or more of them may be a crook, and I have no way of knowing which one. This is something my father used to tell me through the years: companies and corporations have more rights and protections than individuals do. If I steal a box of matches I will be summarily arrested and have no right of privacy. But if a company commits a crime, or even is a victim of a crime, confidentiality is assured. If I steal fifty billion dollars on behalf of a corporation, though, the only way I will be caught is if I openly admit it to my sons, and they turn me in to the authorities, as happened to Bernie Madoff.

Secrecy is key. Black boxes are the problem.

I have been reading the Book of Proverbs with our kids in our daily study session. The force and severity of the language in there is surprising -- not to say shocking -- to the kids, as well as myself. Wisdom personified rails against the "stupid" people attracted to religious cults using prostitutes to spread a secret doctrine wrapped in hidden ritual. It makes you think. The good thing about modern monotheistic religions is that they are not cultish, they do not have secret beliefs and practices. Everything is more or less open to examination. Such is not the case with modern finance.

Secrecy is extremely dangerous. It should be eliminated as much as possible everywhere it turns up. Andrew Carnegie called what we should do having "glass pockets," complete transparency in all income and spending, having all accessible to public scrutiny in order to minimize wrongdoing. Plato explained why with his story of the "Ring of Gyges," a magic ring that gives total confidentiality by making its bearer invisible. This, he points out, is a sore temptation to commit wrongs.

The Qur'an also talks of an opposition between usury, living on unearned money, interest, and living in the light, being "well-grounded in knowledge,

"That they took usury, though they were forbidden; and that they devoured men's substance wrongfully;- we have prepared for those among them who reject faith a grievous punishment. But those among them who are well-grounded in knowledge, and the believers ... To them shall We soon give a great reward." (Qur'an 4:160-162, Shakir)

Salvation, then, depends on glass pockets, knowing where your money comes from. Whatever covers over inevitably hides dark deeds, incompetence, apathy, crime and injustice. There is a good reason that open software is proving not only cheaper but more bug-free and robust than the commercial variety. Many eyes and a bright light make everything safer.

On the geopolitical scale, it is hard to underestimate the evil influence of secrecy. Secrecy -- in the form of "off-shore" banking, or tax havens, seems to be the main reason that world government has not been considered over the past century. Having many weak governments competing with one another rather than one strong government for all leaves many dark holes in which criminality and money for nothing can thrive. The old world order is an extremely lucrative place for those who do not lose sleep over how dirty their income is. According to a recent article in the Globe and Mail,

"Nearly one-third of wealth kept abroad globally is in Swiss banks: the Swiss Bankers Association and consultants estimate this at $2.2-trillion (U.S.), making the Alpine state the globe's biggest offshore centre ahead of Britain and Luxembourg." <http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20081211.wswissbanks1213/BNStory/Business/>

A recent article by George Monbiot called "Pin-Striped Pirates" describes the addiction of Great Britain to hot money, and the contribution it has made to its perpetuation. He links this to the recent activity of pirates off the shores of Somalia. He points out that a quarter of the world's tax havens are colonies of England. "The obvious conclusion is that Britain retains these colonies for one purpose: to help banks, corporations and the ultra-rich to avoid tax." England, dependent on this hot money, then blocks any attempt at reforming the international monetary system. And the cause of it all is tight secrecy.

"Because of the secrecy surrounding the treasure islands (legal banking tax havens), no one knows how much money they divert from developing countries. Christian Aids estimate  of $160 billion a year  is the lowest figure, though 60% greater than the international aid the poor world receives. The Pope suggests $255bn; the US research group Global Financial Integrity proposes $900bn. In all cases we are talking about the means by which hundreds of thousands of lives could have been preserved in the world's poorest countries. But Britain's network of tax havens permits multinational companies, dodgy businessmen and corrupt leaders to snatch money from the poor." (Pin-Striped Pirates, Why does the UK retain a handful of colonies? To destroy the world's taxation systems," Guardian, December 16, 2008, http://www.monbiot.com/archives/2008/12/16/pin-striped-pirates/)

In the worst news of all for those who hope for change, President elect Obama has appointed one of the bankers to oversee the present bailouts, which also are veiled in total secrecy. Billions of dollars in rescue money, none of it accountable, none open to public scrutiny. Here are Naomi Klien's latest comments on how they retain a cloak over all they do, in spite of massive inflow of public money.

"One thing we know for certain is that the market will react violently to any signal that there is a new sheriff in town who will impose serious regulation, invest in people and cut off the free money for corporations. In short, the markets can be relied on to vote in precisely the opposite way that Americans have just voted. (A recent USA Today/Gallup poll found that 60 percent of Americans strongly favor "stricter regulations on financial institutions," while just 21 percent support aid to financial companies.)  When transferring power from a functional, trustworthy regime, everyone favors a smooth transition. When exiting an era marked by criminality and bankrupt ideology, a little rockiness at the start would be a very good sign." (In Praise of a Rocky Transition by Naomi Klein, The Nation, December 1, 2008 <http://www.thenation.com/doc/20081201/klein>)

I may talk more about dark financial secrecy in future instalments of this series.

-- 

John Taylor

email: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/

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The Statue of Equality

Do-it-yourself Statues of Equality

By John Taylor; 2008 Dec 20, 09 Masa'il 165 BE

Why do people put up statues for liberty but not equality? Liberty, Equality, Fraternity! That was the call of the French Revolution. But since then liberty has hogged all the press. There is the famous Statue of Liberty in New York, as well as several other statues of liberty around the world, but you do not see monuments for fraternity or equality. But surely you cannot start on liberty without massive dollops of brotherhood and equity first! Why then does liberty get so much attention?

Maybe I am cynical, but probably lady liberty has proven so seductive through the past couple of centuries because she favours wealthy elites. They are in a position to enjoy liberty, and the fact that everybody else is all but enslaved only increases Lady Liberty's mystique. A few have the time and funds to enjoy freedom to the fullest, and the wannabes put their nose up against the glass and cheer. Sure, equality had its hour under communism, but when the Iron Curtain fell, equality and fraternity disappeared from the secular lexicon. Since then the system that George Orwell called "carnivorous capitalism" has gone on holding up liberty on her high pedestal, while inequality in most Western countries continued to worsen. Yet consider what Baha'u'llah said in the Unity Tablet,

"Those who have quaffed from the ocean of divine utterance and fixed their gaze upon the Realm of Glory should regard themselves as being on the same level as the others and in the same station. Were this matter to be definitely established and conclusively demonstrated through the power and might of God, the world would become as the Abha Paradise." (cited in "Elucidation of Baha'i Teachings on Ranks and Stations," 27 March 1978, Universal House of Justice to all NSA's, Messages 1963 to 1986, 206.3a, 206.3b, pp. 376-377)

But then again, if I look at others as on the same level as myself as Baha'u'llah suggests we do, then would it not be self contradictory to go around putting up statues to our equality? Equality means we are all on the same level. How do you make that into a symbolic statue? Okay, God by His very nature puts us all on the same level, but you cannot depict God any more than you can depict equality. So what do you do? Well, you could look at the Mashriq as a sort of walk-in statue of equality and fraternity. You go there, worship God, and walk out seeing yourself as equal or below everybody around you.

Simple enough.

Or maybe the obligatory prayers are sort of moving, do-it-yourself statues of equality and fraternity. You prostrate yourself to God, and walk away with a visceral horror of non-spiritual distinctions. You are less inclined to stick your nose up against the glass ceilings of privilege and worshipping at shrine of liberty. Having the dust of prostration before the Creator pounded into your forehead, you suddenly long to cast aside all blocks and wrongs that keep us all away from the equality that, Baha'u'llah promises, leads straight to an Abha Paradise on earth.

"Indeed, man is noble, inasmuch as each one is a repository of the sign of God. Nevertheless, to regard oneself as superior in knowledge, learning or virtue, or to exalt oneself or seek preference, is a grievous transgression. Great is the blessedness of those who are adorned with the ornament of this unity and have been graciously confirmed by God." (Id.)

--

John Taylor

email: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/

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In this revealing documentary, Stephen Fry investigates the story of one of the most important machines ever invented - the Gutenberg Press.

The Song of Peace

Reform's Trinity: Thought, Will and Works

By John Taylor; 2008 Dec 19, 08 Masa'il 165 BE

The fifth chapter of the Panorthosia is devoted to the definitions of reform and universal reform (Panorthosia) and to making the difference between the two as clear as possible. I will grapple with his distinction next time, but first let us delve into the three steps of conscious change, knowing, deciding and acting. Comenius is very aware that all rational, sincere and positive change has to revolve around these three, since he builds the entire structure of his Panorthosia around them. Even the salvation of God, in his view, depends upon conformity with the thought, will and works of God, in three orderly steps,

"Accordingly, whoever wishes for salvation should cease from acting contrariwise with God (i.e. being wise without God, wishing anything contrary to God's will, or using his power in opposition to that of God). This, and only this, will be the perfect fundamental basis for the perfect Reform of himself and his affairs, to leave the perimeter and the sidetracks of things and return to God, who is their sole and central basis.' This will come to pass if everyone is prepared to base his thoughts on the thoughts of God, and his will on the Will of God, and his works on the Works of God, and really and truly does so." (Comenius, Panorthosia II, Ch. 7, para 11, p. 107)

Abdu'l-Baha in a talk to the Theosophists of New York, made the same division among knowledge, means and implementation.

"The attainment of any object is conditioned upon knowledge, volition and action. Unless these three conditions are forthcoming, there is no execution or accomplishment. In the erection of a house it is first necessary to know the ground, and design the house suitable for it; second, to obtain the means or funds necessary for the construction; third, actually to build it. Therefore, a power is needed to carry out and execute what is known and admitted to be the remedy for human conditions -- namely, the unification of mankind." (Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation, 157-158)

Comenius in all probability came across the idea of knowledge, volition and action in Aristotle, whose writings still completely dominated the schools of his age. Aristotle opened the Metaphysics by pointing out that our entire psychology is built around our basic need to condition will and deeds with better knowledge.

"All men by nature desire to know. An indication of this is the delight we take in our senses; for even apart from their usefulness they are loved for themselves; and above all others the sense of sight. For not only with a view to action, but even when we are not going to do anything, we prefer seeing (one might say) to everything else. The reason is that this, most of all the senses, makes us know and brings to light many differences between things." (Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book One)

A few sentences later, Aristotle points to the surest sign that knowledge has united with will and act in one harmonious melody: the ability to teach what one has learned.

"And in general it is a sign of the man who knows and of the man who does not know, that the former can teach, and therefore we think art more truly knowledge than experience is; for artists can teach, and men of mere experience cannot." (Aristotle, Metaphysics, Book One)

Baha'u'llah confirms the truth of this too, "The source of courage and power is the promotion of the Word of God, and steadfastness in His Love." To use Abdu'l-Baha's analogy of building a house, we feel pleasure when we learn how to build a home, and we are gratified when we save up the money to pay for it, and we are gratified when we build it and live in it. But only when we have taught the next generation how to build ever better domiciles can we be said to have accomplished our mission in life and be worthy to be called truly happy.

Like all major ideas in philosophy, the three steps from thought to will to works were introduced by Plato first, in this case in the fourth book of the Republic. Here Socrates compares these three to the high, middle and lower notes of the musical scale. He goes on to say,

"... when he has bound all these together, and is no longer many, but has become one entirely temperate and perfectly adjusted nature, then he proceeds to act, if he has to act, whether in a matter of property, or in the treatment of the body, or in some affair of politics or private business; always thinking and calling that which preserves and co-operates with this harmonious condition, just and good action, and the knowledge which presides over it, wisdom, and that which at any time impairs this condition, he will call unjust action, and the opinion which presides over it ignorance."

This passage, with its short but integrated definitions of justice, knowledge and wisdom, is a sort of key for understanding the entire structure of Baha'u'llah's Tablet known as the "Words of Wisdom." (Tablets, pp. 155-157) For example, this Tablet opens with a definition of good expressed in three part harmony,

"The source of all good is trust in God, submission unto His command, and contentment with His holy will and pleasure."

Evil, on the other hand, is just wrong action and wrong knowledge; will is not involved, since God is the One Sole Agent,

"The source of all evil is for man to turn away from his Lord and set his heart on things ungodly."

Abdu'l-Baha elaborated on the need to unite the "low" note of action and the "high" note of knowing with the "middle note" of volition in an address to the International Peace Forum, also in New York.

"If religion be productive of discord among mankind, it is a destroyer and not divine, for religion implies unity and binding together and not separation. Mere knowledge of principles is not sufficient. We all know and admit that justice is good, but there is need of volition and action to carry out and manifest it. For example, we might think it good to build a church, but simply thinking of it as a good thing will not help its erection. The ways and means must be provided; we must will to build it and then proceed with the construction. All of us know that international peace is good, that it is conducive to human welfare and the glory of man, but volition and action are necessary before it can be established. Action is essential. Inasmuch as this century is a century of light, capacity for action is assured to mankind. Necessarily the divine principles will be spread among men until the time of action arrives. Surely this has been so, and truly the time and conditions are ripe for action now." (Abdu'l-Baha, Promulgation, 121)

Since the Master had told reporters on His arrival that one of the main purposes for coming to America was to speak to this peace conference, this surely counts as one of his most important talks. Unfortunately, now as then, the knowledge, will and implementation of peace has yet to be united in one melody.

-- 

John Taylor

email: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/

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From One Gardener to Another

Voltaire and Abdu'l-Baha

By John Taylor; 2008 Dec 18, 07 Masa'il 165 BE

I have taken a little vacation from reading, especially Baha'i reading, over the past few weeks, except that I have casually and very intermittently dipped into Voltaire. I just finished his two most popular works, Zadig and Candide.

I had read that Zadig was the original model of the modern detective novel and that for some time the novelette was required reading for medical students. That clever story got me started on Voltaire, in spite of the not-so-glowing remark of the Master that Voltaire's opinions about religion were the "play of children." Zadig proved so amusing that I read Candide after that. Another cute book. Candide is a fellow who tells it as it is, as his name "candid" implies. His foil is Pangloss, a caricature of the believer in God. Pangloss holds that this is the best of all possible worlds. Candide asks, if this is the best world, how terrible must be all the other worlds. Pangloss does not understand why there is all this evil in this world, but he is undeterred and holds to his faith to the end.

"Private misfortunes are public benefits; so that the more private misfortunes there are, the greater is the general good." (Pangloss, ch. IV)

I especially liked Voltaire's skewering of the "coolness" of the intellectual esthete. You find this sort of sophisticate in every circle in every age, the wealthy, learned, privileged fellow full of himself, so exquisitely proud of his ability to see things for himself that he fails to find any good in anything. This character is called Pococurante, and Candide meets him in Venice. He dismisses the greatest classics of art and literature each in turn,

"Ignorant readers are apt to judge a writer by his reputation. For my part, I read only to please myself. I like nothing but what makes for my purpose." (Candide, Ch. 25)

This surely is to confuse self centeredness with independent search for truth! Anyway, Pococurante then turns to a certain Latin author (the name varies with different translations of Candide, so I have no idea who it is), saying:

"I try causes enough myself. I had once some liking for his philosophical works; but when I found he doubted everything, I thought I knew as much as himself, and had no need of a guide to learn ignorance."

The irony is that this is just what Pococurante really is. He is the ultimate guide to ignorance for himself. He collects the artefacts of greatness, then discounts their real value and puts them down.

One translation says instead of the above, "I have no need of a tutor to learn ignorance." How close this is to the "cow philosophers" that the Master denounced in America. Materialist philosophers, He says, study all their lives only to arrive at the same conclusion that a cow does without any work at all.

If there is nothing beyond the senses, if God is an idle speculation without substance, what is the point of working and striving for anything? Nothing matters anyway, and life is just one painful contretemps after another. In that case it makes sense to conclude with Pococurante: "I am already a good tutor of my own ignorance, why do I need outside help?" Irony upon irony. Voltaire sums up the meaning of the visit with the subsequent reflections of the guests of Pococurante,

As soon as our two travelers had taken leave of His Excellency, Candide said to Martin, "Well, I hope you will own that this man is the happiest of all mortals, for he is above everything he possesses."

"But do not you see," answered Martin, "that he likewise dislikes everything he possesses? It was an observation of Plato, long since, that those are not the best stomachs that reject, without distinction, all sorts of aliments."

"True," said Candide, "but still there must certainly be a pleasure in criticising everything, and in perceiving faults where others think they see beauties."

"That is," replied Martin, "there is a pleasure in having no pleasure."

I am reminded of my nine year old, who looks down on things that seven and eight year olds know, complaining that he has known them forever and forever. The tiredness that suffuses his voice when he speaks of such tedium is so inexpressibly cute. Fair to say, if you can be cool about it, it is not eternal beauty.

Candide and his former tutor, Pangloss, go through many painful adventures full of death, escapes, loss, misfortune and suffering. Finally they buy a farm in Turkey just as funds run dry. They meet a local farmer who is happy to know nothing of the violent ups and downs of court. The high life and its lurid violence has no appeal for him. He is content to grow things.

"You must certainly have a vast estate," said Candide to the Turk.

"I have no more than twenty acres of ground," he replied, "the whole of which I cultivate myself with the help of my children; and our labor keeps off from us three great evils -- idleness, vice, and want." (Ch. 30)

Critics have noticed that Voltaire was a gardener, and that this novel goes from one garden to the next, from one fall from grace to the next. The only ultimate solution to the agony of life is, as the last sentence of the book says, to "take care of our garden."

"You are in the right," said Pangloss; "for when man was put into the garden of Eden, it was with an intent to dress it: and this proves that man was not born to be idle." "Work then without disputing," said Martin; "it is the only way to render life supportable."

Here too we find common ground between faith and disbelief. Abdu'l-Baha was a gardener. When He was on His way to San Francisco He stopped at an agricultural fair to purchase seeds for the Holy Sites.

I believe that gardening is the hobby of the future. I believe that the whole human race should compete to make every spot on earth as beautiful as the Terraces on Mount Carmel. Everybody should get into the act; just cast aside our idle amusements and get gardening. Anyway, that is the solution that Candide and Pangloss arrive when all their agonizing misadventures are at an end.

"The little society, one and all, entered into this laudable design; and set themselves to exert their different talents. The little piece of ground yielded them a plentiful crop. Cunegund indeed was very ugly, but she became an excellent hand at pastrywork; Pacquette embroidered; the old woman had the care of the linen. There was none, down to Brother Giroflie, but did some service; he was a very good carpenter, and became an honest man."

Tend the garden, then, not only of earth but ourselves. Abdu'l-Baha was in perfect consonance with this conclusion. He said,

"Perfection of work is man's greatest reward. When a man sees his work perfected and this perfection is the result of incessant labor and application he is the happiest man in the world. Work is the source of human happiness." (SW, Vol. 13, p. 152)

As the Wiki article on this author points out, Voltaire worked on the Encyclopedia project and regarded it as an intellectual garden. Just like today's Wikipedia project, I would think. Thus the novel ends:

"Pangloss used now and then to say to Candide, There is a concatenation of all events in the best of possible worlds; for, in short, had you not been kicked out of a fine castle for the love of Miss Cunegund; had you not been put into the Inquisition; had you not travelled over America on foot; had you not run the baron through the body; and had you not lost all your sheep, which you brought from the good country of El Dorado, you would not have been here to eat preserved citrons and pistachio nuts. Excellently observed, answered Candide; but let us take care of our garden."

Again, there is irony here. I firmly believe that if gardening were the universal pastime that it should be, that the greater part of the evils that make life so unbearable would be, if not eliminated, then ameliorated. It seems that if you make any sort of effort to make your surroundings prettier, the amount of crime in the whole area goes down. For example, check out this finding reported lately in a science magazine's blog,

The Broken Windows Theory of Crime

"Its called the `broken windows' theory and it says that in a neighborhood where buildings have broken windows, people are more likely to engage in bad behavior. Maybe because they figure no one will care. Or there is little chance they will get caught. The idea has been embraced by people in law enforcement -- crack down on petty crime and you will also put a halt to more serious offenses. New York City, for example, used the logic to justify a zero tolerance approach to things like the squeegeeing of car windows. But the theory has been hard to prove. Crime did go down in New York, but was it directly related to the squeegee decline?"

"Now Dutch scientists say that there may be something to the whole broken windows thing, after all. For example, they found that cyclists who parked their bikes near a wall covered in graffiti were twice as likely to litter than people who parked near the same wall after it was painted clean. The results were published online by the journal Science on November 20th." <http://www.sciam.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=broken-windows-crime-theory-08-11-24&sc=WR_20081125>

Imagine how much human nature would be improved if we became garden experts and put robots to work to make gardens everywhere we turn! I have always thought that industrial districts should not be the blight to the eye that they have become. If a process is not beautiful, why do it? If people thought that way from the start it is unlikely that pollution would be as prevalent as it is, and that depression and violence would be as endemic as they are.

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John Taylor

email: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/

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how to survive a nuclear terror attack

"No less serious is the stress and strain imposed on the fabric of American society through the fundamental and persistent neglect, by the governed and governors alike, of the supreme, the inescapable and urgent duty -- so repeatedly and graphically represented and stressed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His arraignment of the basic weaknesses in the social fabric of the nation -- of remedying, while there is yet time, through a revolutionary change in the concept and attitude of the average white American toward his Negro fellow citizen, a situation which, if allowed to drift, will, in the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, cause the streets of American cities to run with blood, aggravating thereby the havoc which the fearful weapons of destruction, raining from the air, and amassed by a ruthless, a vigilant, a powerful and inveterate enemy, will wreak upon those same cities." (Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 126)

Why we don’t understand as much as we think we do

"O People of Persia! Open your eyes! Pay heed! Release yourselves from this blind following of the bigots, this senseless imitation which is the principal reason why men fall away into paths of ignorance and degradation. See the true state of things. Rise up; seize hold of such means as will bring you life and happiness and greatness and glory among all the nations of the world." (Abdu'l-Baha, The Secret of Divine Civilization, p. 104)

The Lack of Faith Game

God and the Economy

from an essay series on Debt and Economics

By John Taylor; 2008 Dec 17, 06 Masa'il 165 BE

Economic excesses are always religious transgressions at the same time. When the world of finance divorces itself from faith, the habits and restraints conscience are loosed, charity and almsgiving are neglected and the lion's share of the wealth concentrates into the hands of a few. Meanwhile the majority are marginalized and reduced to some form of slavery, be it industrial or financial. Through the centuries traditional religious laws against usury kept indirect, monetary slavery in check until finally the scale and complexity of modern commerce made them impractical. But, although chattel slavery has been outlawed, economic slavery persists. Tolstoy wrote,

"Money is a new form of slavery, and distinguishable from the old simply by the fact that it is impersonal, that there is no human relation between master and slave."

Today more poor people are enslaved by money than there ever were chattel slaves. It is sad and ironic that the impersonal chains of money are so tight that the slave owner class had the effrontery to invoke the ideal of liberty in their defence. The ideology of big money, market fundamentalism, has for some fifty years promoted the absurd and self-contradictory belief that greed is always good. Absolutely free markets would bring unlimited prosperity if only government and its pesky rules were kept out of the way. The spread of such absurdity centralized wealth and power even further.

Until recently the pundits of materialism and economic liberalism seemed to have history on their side. They ignored the embarrassing fact that widespread economic injustice by nature creates a precarious imbalance notoriously prone to booms and busts.

During the 1990's the American economy expanded seemingly endlessly, and consumer spending followed suit. Jubilant with a false sense of ideological security and egged on by massive propaganda, the average worker ventured out into the dark, turbulent waters of the stock market. When they quailed from investing for themselves, their pension funds gambled their futures on their behalf. The boom and bust cycle that periodically crashes capitalist economies seemed like a relic of a quaint past.

As we all know, the crisis of the past six months has badly burned both individuals and fund investors. Consumer spending has dropped and layoffs spread like leprosy. A recession, if not a depression, seems almost a certainty.

Religion has been out of the picture for so long that it is useful to recall that it has a great deal to say about finance and economics. Most important, the world's faiths teach that economic life is at heart a spiritual expression. Charity, not greed or gain, is the key to prosperity.

"Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven." (Matt 6:1, KJV)

Thus begins a discussion of spiritual economics that continues throughout the sixth book of Matthew -- a gospel written, it is thought, by a scribe and former tax collector. Jesus here suggests that true charity is done anonymously for God's sake alone, rather than as a technique for inflating personal prestige or exerting indirect influence.

Islam was founded by a Prophet Who had spent His career as a merchant in charge of a caravan trading enterprise, which was that ancient desert society's closest equivalent to what we now call a chief executive officer. In the Qur'an, God warns against similar financial vices, implying that they boil down to various forms of ingratitude to God, Who is -- unbeknownst to most --, the ultimate source of all wealth, security and prosperity.

"Allah does not bless usury, and He causes charitable deeds to prosper, and Allah does not love any ungrateful sinner. Surely they who believe and do good deeds and keep up prayer and pay the poor-rate they shall have their reward from their Lord, and they shall have no fear, nor shall they grieve." (Q2:276-277, Shakir)

Both of these principles of spiritual economics, Christianity's emphasis on anonymity in giving and Islam's prohibition of sharp financial practices such as usury are codicils to the fundamental teaching of all Abrahamic religions that the true basis of wealth is the law of God and, behind that, the fear of God.

"The fear of Yahweh is clean, enduring forever. The ordinances of Yahweh are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, yes, than much fine gold; Sweeter also than honey and the extract of the honeycomb. Moreover by them is your servant warned. In keeping them there is great reward." (Psalm 19:9-11, WEB)

Abdu'l-Baha pointed out that rejection of God's Will conditions the economy for violent dislocations and deprivation. Sin is actually embedded in the most fundamental industry of all, the food industry and agricultural system. Neglect of God's law unleashes a pandemonium of unfettered desires. These in turn become a root cause of disease, both financial and physical,

"It is certainly the case that sins are a potent cause of physical ailments. If humankind were free from the defilements of sin and waywardness, and lived according to a natural, inborn equilibrium, without following wherever their passions led, it is undeniable that diseases would no longer take the ascendant, nor diversify with such intensity. But man hath perversely continued to serve his lustful appetites, and he would not content himself with simple foods. Rather, he prepared for himself food that was compounded of many ingredients, of substances differing one from the other. With this, and with the perpetrating of vile and ignoble acts, his attention was engrossed, and he abandoned the temperance and moderation of a natural way of life. The result was the engendering of diseases both violent and diverse." (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections, 152-153)

Our present financial disease runs much deeper than most economists admit. Like all spiritual questions, money is a mystery that will never be fully grasped by us mere mortals. But some causes of the present disease are impossible to miss. One is the state of the family. Part of the reason for the increased economic frailty these days is the gradual ejection of the family from agriculture over the past century.

The family farm has been either marginalized or completely replaced by factory farms run by centralized corporations. Family members, both rural and urban, over the past century became passive, accustomed to being voiceless in decisions affecting them. Laws protecting the family were deregulated and "liberalized." It became the norm to exploit them with heavy mortgages for obsolete, inefficient, sub-standard and overpriced dwellings. It is not a coincidence that sub-prime mortgages were the trigger for this present crisis. So long had families been weakened and ignored that for years no alarms went off at the highest levels when it became obvious that granting junk mortgages to marginal families was a confidence game. Or, to put it more accurately, a lack of faith game.

--

John Taylor

email: badijet@gmail.com
blog: http://badiblog.blogspot.com/

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