`ABDU'L-BAHA'S "SEVEN CANDLES OF UNITY". "The Seven Candles of Unity", found in `Abdu'l-Baha's authoritative writings, was one of `Abdu'l-Baha's approaches to predicting the future progress of the world toward unity. Because of such pronouncements, Baha'is know that world unity will be securely established in the 20th Century. The only question is, what will it be like, and how will it happen? As the year 2000 approaches, the emphasis will begin to shift toward explaining that world unity is established, even though warfare, religious strife, ethnic strife, etc., persist worldwide. ---------------------------------------- First, let's look at the first five candles of unity. 1) unity in the political realm ... the early glimmerings of which can now be discerned 2) unity of thought in world undertakings ... the consummation of which will erelong be witnessed 3) unity in freedom 4) unity in religion 5) the unity of nations ... which in this century will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland. ---------------------------------------- It is interesting that `Abdu'l-Baha treats the first two candles as the first to be realized, as though this is a chronological progression. A chronological interpretation also makes sense because the first two candles are easily realized. It can be claimed that these two candles have been fulfilled to some degree by the League of Nations and the United Nations. Still, there is still much adversity in the political realm, and world undertakings are far from unified. The danger is still so far beyond our willingness to face it that we are nowhere near turning the tide. Here in the US, we've pretty much put it out of our minds. Very sad. Once the nations of the world can act together to turn this dark tide, then we can say that the second candle has been lit, because the nations, though not unified with respect to their governmental structure, will at least be unified in action. As of yet we've had a few good days of unified action, but nowhere near enough to survive the consequences of "progress". At this time, both of these first candles is at risk of blowing out. Neither is "securely established". The relations between China and the West, for example, have great potential for both progress or disaster. We'll have to wait and see. ------------------------------------------------------------ Continuing on to the 3rd and 4th candles of unity: 3) unity in freedom 4) unity in religion These candles are clearly not 'lit' yet, inasmuch as religious warfare continues, and freedom is clearly not universal. "Unity in freedom" is in as much danger as ever, as slave labor is becoming more mainstream in the new international marketplace. Such slavery may someday lead to economic independence, but not for awhile. Right now it's just plain scary. With respect to the chronological orientation of these candles, one can see where 'Abdu'l-Baha could see freedom as a prerequisite for religious unity, and religious unity a prerequisite for the next candle, the unity of nations, for many nations are forced to be at odds because of religious differences. ------------------------------------------------------------ The 5th Candle: "The fifth candle is the unity of nations - a unity which in this century will be securely established, causing all the peoples of the world to regard themselves as citizens of one common fatherland." Who today regard themselves as "citizens of one common fatherland?" The Baha'is, and some Muslims, and a few others. But there's no real political foundation to support such ideals. As a world, are we even close? Nationalism is as alive as ever, as nations continue to fragment to smaller, more ethnically narrow nations. Have the nations of the world, as a whole, done anything to even incline their citizens to look beyond their borders? Some of Europe has made encouraging efforts to unify regionally, but in the Balkans fragments are breaking into fragments. Warfare persists worldwide, in the Balkans, Sri Lanka, Central Asia, Iraq, and throughout much of Africa. Threats of new wars can be percieved in numerous areas. Nuclear, biological, and chemical warfare continue to be unresolved threats. It is this candle which is promised to be "securely established" in the 20th Century, but it has not even appeared momentarily. It would be absurd to claim that the unity of nations is securely established. The unity of nations must be a binding agreement between all nations, certainly more than common ideals amongst a handful of environmentalists, and more than an inclination amongst nations to act together such as we sometimes see in the UN. Notwithstanding this, the preceding candles of unity are in various stages of pre-fulfillment. Where 'Abdu'l-Baha said the first candle was already _slightly_ lit, I can see what he meant. When he said the second candle would soon be lit, that too I can understand. But he did not say that about the "unity of nations", and that also makes perfectly good sense to me. He clearly intended the unity of nations to come later, as it is no small accomplishment. But he _did_ expect it to come in this century. To refrain: "[The permanent peace] will be established in this century ... It will be universal in the twentieth century. All nations will be forced into it ... the nations will be forced to come to peace and to agree to the abolition of war ... By international agreement they will lay down their arms and the great era of peace will be ushered in." - Abdu'l-Baha, "A Compilation on Peace" compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice "all nations and kindreds will be gathered together under the shadow of this Divine Banner, which is no other than the Lordly Branch itself, and will become a single nation. Religious and sectarian antagonism, the hostility of races and peoples, and differences among nations, will be eliminated. All men will adhere to one religion, will have one common faith, will be blended into one race, and become a single people. All will dwell in one common fatherland, which is the planet itself." "This is the stage which the world is now approaching, the stage of world unity, which, as `Abdu'l-Bahá assures us, will, in this century, be securely established. - Shoghi Effendi, quoting "Some Answered Questions" in "The Promised Day Is Come" ------------------------------------------------------------ The 6th and 7th Candles. "The sixth candle is unity of races, making of all that dwell on earth peoples and kindreds of one race. The seventh candle is unity of language, i.e., the choice of a universal tongue in which all peoples will be instructed and converse. Each and every one of these will inevitably come to pass, inasmuch as the power of the Kingdom of God will aid and assist in their realization." ------------------------------------------------------------ To enumerate `Abdu'l-Baha's expectations for the Twentieth Century: 1) "the nations will be forced to come to peace and to agree to the abolition of war" 2) "By international agreement [the nations] will lay down their arms" 3) The peace will be universal and permanent. 4) "all nations ... will become a single nation. 5) Religious and sectarian antagonism ... will be eliminated. 6) All men will adhere to one religion, will have one common faith. 7) "all nations and kindreds will be gathered together under the shadow of this Divine Banner, which is no other than the Lordly Branch itself" 8) The hostility of races and peoples, and differences among nations, will be eliminated. 9) All men ... will be blended into one race. `Abdu'l-Baha's vision of world peace is a noble vision, but the world is not holding up its end of the deal. ------------------------------------------------------------ ADDITIONAL REFERENCES With reference to your question concerning 'Abdu'l-Baha's reference to "unity in the political realm": this unity should be clearly distinguished from the "unity of nations". The first is a unity which politically independent and sovereign states achieve among themselves; while the second is one which is brought about between nations, the difference between a state and a nation being that the former, as you know, is a political entity without necessarily being homogeneous in race, whereas the second implies national as well as political homogeneity. - From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi dated 26 July 1936, from the Compilation on Peace The Seven Lights of Unity will not necessarily appear in the order given. - Extract from a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi dated 19 November 1945, from the Compilation on Peace