Quantum Mechanics, Modern Physics and the Baha’i Teachings

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June 1, 2025

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When I reflect on the Baha’i teachings, which stunningly prefigure many of the discoveries of modern physics, I see an interesting pattern.

As a physicist, I’ve noticed that most of the clearest scientific expressions and explanations in the Baha’i teachings come from the writings and talks of Abdu’l-Baha. Looking carefully, those explanations usually trace back to the original concept provided by Baha’u’llah. However, ultimately Abdu’l-Baha seems uniquely capable of pulling these concepts out, explaining them in clear, modern language, and rendering them intelligible to us—or at least to me.

For example on the question of the ultimate substance of matter, in Baha’u’llah’s “Tablet of Wisdom” we can see the presence of the ideas later expressed by Abdu’l-Baha:

… He (Socrates) it is who perceived a unique, a tempered, and a pervasive nature in things, bearing the closest likeness to the human spirit, and he discovered this nature to be distinct from the substance of things in their refined form. – Baha’u’llah, Tablets of Baha’u’llah, p. 146.

This, I suspect, forms the kernel of the idea that underlies Abdu’l-Baha’s statement that:

Even the ether, the forces of which are said in natural philosophy to be heat, light, electricity and magnetism, is an intelligible and not a sensible reality. – Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, newly revised edition, pp. 93-94.

Perhaps this alludes to the other uniquely modern ideas from the Baha’i teachings about non-existence of rest and a void, which both flow from the concept of a pervasive and spirit-like essence underlying all matter. For those reasons and from my perspective, it seems it would behoove us to pay extremely careful attention to what Abdu’l-Baha says about science and the universe, despite how deceptively simple it may sound.

With hindsight we can easily see the many important principles contained in Abdu’l-Baha’s writings and speeches—for example, the understanding that both matter and light arises from the ether, the understanding that this field represents a non-physical “intellectual reality” and that absolute rest is impossible via his statement “that motion be an inseparable concomitant of existence.” These concepts expose some of the core ideas of quantum mechanics and later field theory—which developed as guiding lights of contemporary science long after Abdu’l-Baha first expressed them.

Louis de Broglie

All this makes me wonder how a scientist existing before the advent of the quantum wave function might have used Abdu’l-Baha’s statements to hasten these discoveries. One could imagine an insightful individual who might have taken Abdu’l-Baha’s statements on ether and matter to heart, and seen, as the pioneering French physicist Louis de Broglie eventually postulated, that matter might be modeled as a wave; or later understood that this same field could also explain electromagnetism. Yet still, this kind of discovery requires formulating these principles in terms of the problems and the mathematics at hand, which makes me doubt anyone will discover a fully formed theory of physics hidden in scripture. Instead, we can sometimes find principles which should inspire and hopefully point the direction towards fruitful scientific inquiry.

With that in mind, let’s take a closer look at some of the probable truths contemporary science still wrestles with and attempts to prove, and see if we can find corollaries or clues within the Baha’i teachings. Several ideas seem to be suggested in the Baha’i writings which many physicists think are true, but haven’t conclusively proven yet. I’ll list two of the most important ones here:

The Cosmos Exhibits Self-similarity

This concept perhaps should really belong in the category of known scientific facts, since this is a plainly observed phenomena of our universe, due to the nature of our physical laws. While it hasn’t yet been conclusively proven—it would be a very difficult theory to prove, after all—most scientists already accept it; and most laymen do, too. In part, it has driven the development of such emerging sciences as fractal mathematics. The Baha’i teachings express this cosmic self-similarity in terms of the obvious patterns of nature, from the smallest element to the largest:

… earthly and heavenly, material and spiritual, accidental and essential, particular and universal, structure and foundation, appearance and reality and the essence of all things, both inward and outward—all of these are connected one with another and are interrelated in such a manner that you will find that drops are patterned after seas, and that atoms are structured after suns in proportion to their capacities and potentialities. – Abdu’l-Baha, Tablet of the Universe, provisional translation.

The Cosmos is Infinite

Despite the belief that our universe originated with a singularity, scientists now have a strong suspicion that our cosmos is infinite, populated by a multi-verse. In fact, the infinite nature of the universe is now almost a requirement for many existing theories beyond the standard model. Since science centers so much on measurement, this theory also approaches impossibility in terms of proof—but the Baha’i teachings have proclaimed the infinitude of the universe since the beginning of the revelation:

Know thou that the expressions of the creative hand of God throughout His limitless worlds are themselves limitless. Limitations are a characteristic of the finite, and restriction is a quality of existent things, not of the reality of existence. – Ibid.

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How the Founder of America’s Most Important Black Newspaper Became a Baha’i

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Tony Ramos

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February 27, 2025

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In the October 12, 1952 issue of Ebony magazine, a feature article appeared titled, “Baha’i Faith, Only Church in World That Does Not Discriminate.”

At that time, Ebony magazine enjoyed a huge share of the African-American media market across the United States and wielded considerable influence on popular Black opinion.

Displayed prominently on page 39 was a photograph of the Baha’i intellectual and Harlem Renaissance hero, Alain Locke, featured in a number of articles in this series. Next to the picture of Alain Locke is a photograph of Robert S. Abbott, founder of The Chicago Defender, which, prior to World War I, emerged as the nation’s most influential Black weekly newspaper. Abbott’s original motto for the Defender (self-styled as the “World’s Greatest Weekly”) was “American race prejudice must be destroyed.”

Portrait of Robert Sengstacke Abbott (1870 – 1940)

The Defender had one animating impulse as the hallmark of its outspoken journalism — a strident and trenchant criticism of racism, bigotry, and discrimination against African Americans, quite similar to the Baha’i teachings on the issue, expressed here by Abdu’l-Baha in a talk he gave in Montreal in 1912:

All prejudices are against the will and plan of God. Consider, for instance, racial distinction and enmity. All humanity are the children of God; they belong to the same family, to the same original race. There can be no multiplicity of races, since all are the descendants of Adam. This signifies that racial assumption and distinction are nothing but superstition. …

Therefore, all prejudices between man and man are falsehoods and violations of the will of God. God desires unity and love; He commands harmony and fellowship.

The Chicago Defender’s founder, Robert Sengstacke Abbott (1868–1940) — LL.M., Legum Magister, meaning master of laws in Latin, an internationally recognized post-Juris Doctor (JD) law degree — was one of the greatest newspaper publishers of all time.

The acclaimed sociologist Gunnar Myrdal (awarded The Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel in 1974), in his magisterial work “An American Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy” — cited in the 1954 U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision, Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas — proclaimed that the Black press was “‘the greatest single power in the Negro race’.”

Abbott’s motto, “With drops of ink, we make millions think,” frequently appeared in The Chicago Defender. In fact, he had the power to influence and, therefore, change the entire United States of America, which he did by launching and catalyzing what is known as the “Great Migration,” when more than six million African Americans moved from the rural South to the cities of the North, Midwest, and West from around 1916 to 1970. Mr. Abbott became a Baha’i in 1934, thereby publicizing an otherwise little-known social movement at the time into something that would become better-known thanks to the many articles on the Baha’i Faith that The Chicago Defender would publish during Abbott’s illustrious and distinguished career.

Since the 1912 visit of Abdu’l-Baha to the United States, the Black media mogul had been a long-time admirer and friend of the Baha’i Faith. (Mark Perry effectively rediscovered Robert S. Abbott’s compelling Baha’i story, including information published in this article).

In 1912, the year the Defender’s first newsstand sales began, Abbott attended Abdu’l-Baha’s first of three visits to Chicago in a meeting held at Jane Addams’s Hull House. As Abbott recalled years later, Abdu’l-Baha placed his hand on Abbott’s head and said that “he would get from me some day a service for the benefit of humanity.” Perry notes that, as early as 1924, Abbott and his wife, Helen, appeared in the Chicago Baha’i community membership list. Abbott read and studied a number of Baha’i books prior to becoming a Baha’i during the 26^th annual National Baha’i Convention of 1934, held in Foundation Hall at the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois.

*The Jane Addams Hull House complex once covered a city block on Chicago’s West Side. (Chicago Historical Society, Barnes Crosby photo)*

One news story, published in March 1924 in The Chicago Defender, reported that Robert S. Abbott presented a lecture, “Friendly Race Relations,” to students and faculty at Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, under the auspices of the “Race Friendship League.” In describing the gist of the lecture, the Defender reporter wrote:

Students of Northwestern University, Evanston, gathered recently at Garrott Hall, under the auspices of the Race Friendship League, a body of professors and students intensely interested in race relations. The speaker of the evening was Robert S. Abbott of the Chicago Defender. …

Dr. Abbott, as the guest at the meeting, chose as his topic, “Friendly Race Relations.” By way of introduction, attention was directed to the great Bahai movement that is attempting, through religious forces of the present day, to bring about the hoped-for fatherhood of God and brotherhood of man. …

“I feel,” said Dr. Abbott, “that America will never take its place alongside the nations in the world until she makes up her mind that the black man and the black woman, the black boy and the black girl are sharing and sharing alike with the whites of this country in everything that makes for peace, happiness and contentment. I feel that no church has done its full duty to God and man until its doors are thrown open to all, regardless of race or color. When all races come together and serve God under one vine and fig tree, and not until then, will the blessings of God come to this nation of ours.”

– “Northwestern Students Hear Editor Abbott,” The Chicago Defender (National edition) March 22, 1924, p. 4.

Little is known about Abbott’s relationship with the Baha’i community in the intervening years prior to his declaration of faith in 1934. Yet, as noted and quoted above, it is noteworthy that Dr. Abbott publicly promoted the ideals of the Baha’i Faith a full decade before his public declaration of his faith as a Baha’i.

*Robert S. Abbott and his mother Flora.*

Dr. Zia Bagdadi, perhaps the most active and prominent promoter of the Baha’i Faith among Chicago’s African Americans, had served as one of Abdu’l-Baha’s attendants in 1912. Perry notes that “it is quite likely that Dr. Bagdadi first met Abbott at the Hull House talk and was present when Abdu’l-Baha spoke to the fledgling publisher.” After Abbott became a Baha’i, Shoghi Effendi (Abdu’l-Baha’s grandson and appointed successor) wrote to Dr. Bagdadi, stating that Abbott “may truly be regarded as your spiritual son,” which shows that friendship with Dr. Bagdadi was Abbott’s primary connection with the Baha’i community before his conversion. (See Perry, “Robert S. Abbott and the Chicago Defender,” New Pittsburgh Courier (Nov. 11, 1995), p. 7.)

Abbott’s declaration of faith as a Baha’i occurred on Sunday, June 3, 1934, the final day of the 1934 National Baha’i Convention, held in “Foundation Hall” at the Baha’i House of Worship in Wilmette, Illinois. Dr. Bagdadi and the convention delegates witnessed and described a “touching and impressive incident,” which he recounted a few days later in a letter to Shoghi Effendi:

Just before the closing of this Convention, speaking on the subject of publicity, I happened to think of Doctor Abbot [sic], Negro publisher of a newspaper in Chicago. I mentioned how I succeeded in publishing Baha’i articles on the first page of his paper. As I finished this statement, someone in the audience shouted, “Dr. Abbot [sic] is now here with us.” The Delegates expressed their desires to hear a word from him, and he responded by declaring his faith in the Baha’i Cause! This was one of the happiest moments in the Convention.

– Ibid.

On June 9, 1934, The Chicago Defender itself reported on the 1934 American Baha’i national convention, stating, in part:

Robert S. Abbott, editor and publisher of The Chicago Defender, addressed the delegates and visitors to the convention Sunday afternoon. His talk was one of the highlights of the program. The editor is intensely interested in the Baha’i movement, and is thoroughly in accord with its broad principles as was evidenced by his excellent remarks during the convention.

– “Baha’i Delegates End 26th Annual Convention: Followers of Faith Gather at Temple in Wilmette.” The Chicago Defender (June 9, 1934), 4.

As recounted by Louis Gregory, this is what Dr. Abbott said:

Dear friends: Sorry I am hoarse and do not want to find it necessary to speak all over again. Happy am I to see people whom I have been praying to God all my life to see, those who recognize me as a man. Everywhere I have travelled I have been received as a man save in my own country. Here my people have been cruelly treated and even burned at the stake! … Abdu’l-Baha when in America put His hand on my head and told me that He would get from me some day a service for the benefit of Humanity. I am identifying myself with this Cause and I go up with you or down with you. Anything for this Cause! Let it go out and remove the darkness everywhere. Save my people! Save America from herself!

– Perry, “Robert S. Abbott and the Chicago Defender,” New Pittsburgh Courier (Nov. 11, 1995), p. 7.

Abbott’s interest in the Baha’i religion was no mere passing fancy; rather, his passion and fervent enthusiasm were translated into a significant number of articles on the Baha’i movement that Dr. Abbott published (and sometimes personally authored) in The Chicago Defender, which reached a remarkably wide readership within the Black community across the United States.

Note: This two-part essay originated in this previously-published journal article by the author: “The Baha’i ‘Race Amity’ Movement and the Black Intelligentsia in Jim Crow America: Alain Locke and Robert S. Abbott.” Baha’i Studies Review 17 (cover date, 2011; publication date, 2012): pp. 3–46, available online: https://bahai-library.com/buck_race_amity_movement.

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Barabbas: A Unique Baha’i Artist Paints the Big Bang

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Tony Ramos

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February 4, 2025

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How does an artist depict the human spirit’s journey? The Austrian Baha’i artist Claus Mayrhofer, who adopted the artist’s name Barabbas, attempted to do just that throughout his career.

Barabbas was an extreme individualist in his work as a painter. No art historian has been able to assign him or his work to one of the existing art movements.

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The Baha’i Definition of Paradise: The First Day of Ridvan

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Tony Ramos

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April 21, 2025

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Starting today, and for the next twelve days, Baha’is all around the world will celebrate Ridvan, which means “paradise,” the holiest and most joyous time of the Baha’i year.

Pronounced rez-vahn, the Baha’i teachings refer to this 12-day period every spring as “the King of Festivals,” because it marks the anniversary of the declaration of a new religion in an earthly paradise of a rose-scented, birdsong-filled garden.

That actual garden, named Ridvan or Paradise by Baha’u’llah, witnessed the birth of the Baha’i Faith, the world’s newest independent religion, in April of 1863.

The bank of the Tigris River in Baghdad, Iraq.

It happened on a verdant island in the Tigris River near Baghdad. The garden on that island marks the exact spot where Baha’u’llah first declared his mission and inaugurated the Baha’i Faith, as he recounted in his Book of Certitude:

Consider how all created things eloquently testify to the revelation of that inner Light within them. Behold how within all things the portals of the Ridvan of God are opened, that seekers may attain the cities of understanding and wisdom, and enter the gardens of knowledge and power. Within every garden they will behold the mystic bride of inner meaning enshrined within the chambers of utterance in the utmost grace and fullest adornment.

A decade before his momentous declaration, in 1853, the Persian government had exiled Baha’u’llah to Baghdad, fearing the rapid spread of his teachings and their progressive impact on society. In April of 1863, because Baha’u’llah’s message of oneness and harmony continued to spread and threaten the clerics and their hold on power, he faced another exile – described in Star of the West Magazine by Jinab-i-Fadil:

At last the enemies of the Cause secured from the government authorities an order banishing Baha’u’llah from Baghdad. It first read that he should go, alone. But later this was changed, permitting his family and a few followers to accompany him. The band of exiles left Baghdad and paused, first, in a beautiful garden outside the city. Here they sojourned for twelve days. A tent was pitched for Baha’u’llah, and around it the tents for the others. These days in the garden are called “The days of Ridvan” and they are of supreme importance, for it was then that Baha’u’llah declared, to a few followers, his great mission and began to build the palace of peace and unity for the world. He revealed many wonderful verses which sing the melodies of the New Day of God.

When the twelve days were over, the party, mounted on horses and donkeys and guarded by Turkish soldiers, set out again. The believers who could not accompany them were utterly broken-hearted. It was as though Baha’u’llah was a king starting upon a glorious journey. Outwardly, an exile – but in his spirit a great light was shining.

Baha’u’llah, his family, and the band of exiles and believers who accompanied them faced a grueling, arduous overland journey to Constantinople. It took them four months of traveling, on foot and horseback, through the deserts and mountains of Asia Minor in the heat of the summer. During that period Baha’u’llah continued to proclaim the mission of his new Faith – the oneness of humanity and peace between all nations – to a widening circle of new adherents and followers in each village they passed through.

*Constantinople circa 1870 – 7 years after Baha’u’llah arrived there in exile.*

This profound announcement transformed the occasion of Baha’u’llah’s banishment from crisis to victory.

The flower pots on the ground mark the location of the bench where Bahá’u’lláh often sat when He visited the replica of the Ridvan garden in Israel, c. 1920

So each year in April, the twelve days of Ridvan – which Baha’is observe this year from sunset on April 20th to sunset on May 2nd – commemorate Baha’u’llah’s sojourn in the garden, and joyously celebrate the birth of his new Faith. To commemorate and observe this holiday, Baha’i communities and their friends around the world remember the eve of Baha’u’llah’s banishment from Baghdad to Istanbul, not as a time of sorrow or regret, but as a happy festival of revelation and renewal.

In that way, the Ridvan Baha’i holy days symbolize the power of the prophet of God to bring forth light from darkness and win triumph from seeming defeat, as Abdu’l-Baha said in this 1912 speech he gave in New York City:

The Persian government believed the banishment of [Baha’u’llah] from Persia would be the extermination of his cause in that country. These rulers now realized that it spread more rapidly. His prestige increased, his teachings became more widely circulated. The chiefs of Persia then used their influence to have Baha’u’llah exiled from Baghdad. He was summoned to Constantinople by the Turkish authorities. While in Constantinople he ignored every restriction, especially the hostility of ministers of state and clergy. The official representatives of Persia again brought their influence to bear upon the Turkish authorities and succeeded in having Baha’u’llah banished from Constantinople to Adrianople, the object being to keep him as far away as possible from Persia and render his communication with that country more difficult. Nevertheless the cause still spread and strengthened.

Baha’is believe that Baha’u’llah’s announcement of his new revelation in the paradise of the Ridvan garden brought a new, inner paradise to humanity.

*The Garden of Ridvan in Baghdad, Iraq.*

During that first day of Ridvan in 1863 Baha’u’llah revealed the Suriy-i-Sabr, known as the “Tablet of Job.” In it, Baha’u’llah wrote a sentence that revealed one of the great themes of the Baha’i teachings, the concept of progressive revelation and the inherent unity of all religions:

God hath sent down His Messengers to succeed to Moses and Jesus, and He will continue to do so till ‘the end that hath no end;’ so that His grace may, from the heaven of Divine bounty, be continually vouchsafed to mankind.

A decade later, in 1873, Baha’u’llah referred to that first day of Ridvan as the moment when all humanity was “immersed in the sea of purification:”

Verily, all created things were immersed in the sea of purification when, on that first day of Ridvan, We shed upon the whole of creation the splendours of Our most excellent Names and Our most exalted Attributes. This, verily, is a token of My loving providence, which hath encompassed all the worlds.

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Joaquim Sampaio: A Baha’i Martyr’s Legacy in Angola

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Tony Ramos

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December 9, 2024

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What cause would you give your life for? When we think about early African Baha’is who died as a result of their beliefs, the names of Enoch Olinga (Uganda, 1979) and Duarte Vieira (Guinea-Bissau, 1966) come to our minds.

But there were other Baha’i martyrs in Africa — one of them was Joaquim Sampaio. Mr. Sampaio was born in Angola, near the city of Malanje, in 1922. In those days, Angola was an impoverished Portuguese colony, and it was forced to grow cotton as a commodity crop for Portugal.

Joaquim Sampaio

From his early youth, Joaquim developed a deep interest in spiritual and religious subjects. He read and studied the Bible, and eventually, he claimed to have a spiritual gift, announcing that a great message from God was coming, which would unite all peoples. He also said that this message had not yet reached Malanje, but that he would recognize it when it appeared. By then, his radiant spirituality had made him known in the Malanje area as the “Revealed One.”

In 1956, he received a letter from his uncle Francisco Ebo in Luanda, who told him that a new divine message had indeed appeared. Joaquim was very curious and answered his uncle with three straight questions: Where was the center of this new Faith? What nationality is this messenger? What is his mission?

The answer from Mr. Ebo came a few weeks later: The center of the new Faith is in the Holy Land, in Haifa; the messenger, Baha’u’llah, came from the East, from Persia; his message is to unite all humanity. Having read this answer, Joaquim Sampaio said to his family and friends: “This is the Faith I have been waiting for!”

After a few weeks, Mr. Sampaio traveled to Luanda to meet his uncle Francisco and other Baha’is. They had long, deep, and significant conversations. The Baha’is of Luanda were impressed with Mr. Sampaio’s discourse, his conviction, and his enthusiasm. Back in Malanje, Mr. Sampaio claimed openly to be a Baha’i, stirring family and friends with the news of the new revelation. In the following weeks, they received a visit from the Baha’is of Luanda, several persons from the Malanje area accepted the Faith, and, in 1957, the first Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Malanje was elected.

Joaquim Sampaio was married and had five children. His life wasn’t easy. He worked as a foreman for Cotonang, a cotton plantation company. He earned 350 escudos a month when, at that time, a good pair of shoes cost 250 escudos. When John Robarts visited Angola in 1959 and met Mr. Sampaio in Luanda, he described him with these words: “Sampaio is thin, undernourished. I suspect he is at a starvation level and eating almost nothing so that his family can have more.”

In his spare time, Joaquim would ride his bicycle to go to various villages near Malanje to carry the Baha’i message to others. Mrs. Hilda Xavier Rodrigues, a Baha’i living in Luanda, described him this way: “He is the type who would love to go out and pioneer all over the country, such a spirit he has. I love the way he feels the [Baha’i] Cause and tells his friends to unite and be prudent, be silent, be observant.”

During his travels to Malanje’s neighboring villages, Mr. Sampaio no doubt witnessed the terrible conditions in which rural populations lived, forced to cultivate and produce large quantities of cotton, and often prevented from maintaining their traditional agricultural crops, which meant many went hungry.

Mr. Sampaio’s enthusiasm for the revelation of Baha’u’llah and for teaching the Baha’i Faith led, in 1957, several students from the Evangelical school in Quizanga to abandon the church and accept the Baha’i Faith. Joaquim’s activities as Baha’i became more and more visible. It didn’t take long for the colonial authorities to raise eyebrows at the man who they called “that propagandist of the Baha’i Faith.” Family and friends warned Joaquim to be careful and keep a low profile. After all, this new religion was not known to the authorities, and his teaching it to others could bring him bad consequences. But Joaquim ignored the warnings.

The police of Malanje detained Mr. Sampaio on several occasions due to his Baha’i activities. In one of the statements recorded at the police station, Mr. Sampaio is described as “the main preacher of the Baha’i Faith in Malanje,” even though Baha’is have no clergy. The statement includes Joaquim’s narrative of his discovering the Baha’i Faith and his mystical dreams. As he told the police:

… he read Baha’i books and liked them a lot because they were not against his religion, nor against the government, there only one God and the Bible seems to be one of his bases. When he began to have doubts, he began recording them in a notebook. At night he began to have visions in which a figure he could not recognize appeared to him, and clarified his doubts about several passages of the Bible that until then were incomprehensible to him. He told these visions to several friends, and these friends later asked him to learn more about the new religion.

John Robarts with Bahais in Luanda, Sampaio is in the middle, 1960.

In early January 1960, Mr. Sampaio wrote a letter to a Baha’i committee. His words were almost a premonition:

The people of Angola are afraid because they are slaves of another race and have always been dominated. We are told that if we accept the [Baha’i] Faith we will probably be arrested. It is a shame that this spirit of fear dominates the people of Angola, because if God freed them from their cage, they would still be afraid to fly. Only the revealed ones are not afraid because they are servants of Baha’u’llah. This is not due to a lack of willingness to convey the Glad Tidings, but because people are afraid unless the enemies of the Faith stop harassing them. But the people testify that this, in fact, is the Promised One that the people are waiting for. Let’s see if in 1960, Angola will become freer.

However, during that time, Angola became less and less free, and the activities of the Baha’is were being monitored by PIDE, the national political police. In June 1960, a document from PIDE stated that the Baha’i Faith could be a source of political unrest masquerading as a religion, and the Baha’is “are being used for the de-nationalization movement” with its “principles and teachings of development, peace and equal rights.” These allegations were not true, but in late 1960, a general strike broke out among the cotton farmers around Malanje. It was violently repressed throughout the province. In February of 1961, Angola’s War of Liberation began, and unprecedented violence and repression spread across the entire country. Any African considered suspicious by the colonial authorities would be arrested, detained, and imprisoned, his fate unknown.

Soon, PIDE began to arrest prominent Baha’is in Malanje and Luanda. They were all sent to a prison camp at Baia dos Tigres in southern Angola. In the middle of the night, the PIDE detained Mr. Sampaio at his home, and he was never seen again.

Angolan Baha’is understand that Joaquim Sampaio died in prison because of his firm belief in the Baha’i Faith. Most likely, he was the first Angolan Baha’i martyr. Abdu’l-Baha, in a speech he gave in North America in 1912, praised such martyrs and spelled out the reasons a person would give his life for his beliefs:

Through the teachings of Baha’u’llah the horizon of the East was made radiant and glorious. Souls who have hearkened to His words and accepted His message live together today in complete fellowship and love. They even offer their lives for each other. They forego and renounce worldly possessions for one another, each preferring the other to himself. This has been due to the declaration and foundation of the oneness of the world of humanity. Today in Persia there are meetings and assemblages wherein souls who have become illumined by the teachings of Baha’u’llah — representative Muslims, Christians, Jews, Zoroastrians, Buddhists and of the various denominations of each — mingle and conjoin in perfect fellowship and absolute agreement. A wonderful brotherhood and love is established among them, and all are united in spirit and service for international peace. More than twenty thousand Baha’is have given their lives in martyrdom for the Cause of God. The governments of the East arose against them, bent upon their extermination. They were killed relentlessly, but day by day their numbers have increased, day by day they have multiplied in strength and become more eloquent. They have been strengthened through the efficacy of a wonderful spiritual power.

Historian Moojan Momen recalls that the political unrest that plagued several African countries eager for independence “had a great impact on a growing Baha’i community.” Regarding the Baha’is of Angola, he adds:

The Roman Catholic clergy decided to take advantage of the fears of the Portuguese authorities and accused the Baha’is of being terrorists. Many believers were detained and interrogated. Among the main victims was Joaquim Sampaio. He was taken away in the middle of the night and they never saw him again. It is believed that he was executed or died in a prison camp …

Many, many people have given their lives for their firm belief in the Baha’i teachings of peace, love, and unity. Their courageous acceptance of those spiritual teachings transcended even the fear of death.

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My 50th Baha’i Anniversary, and a Powerful Dream

By

Tony Ramos

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June 13, 2025

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I recently came across this old 1974 photo of me, aged 22, holding my new baby son Will. Sometime late that month, 50 years ago, I made the most momentous decision of my life – to become a Baha’i.

Paul Hanley and his son, 1974.

In a sense, I had no choice.

I first heard the word Baha’i from a friend in high school. I went to the school library and looked it up in the World Book Encyclopedia. I liked what I saw, but somehow got the impression that this was an Iranian religion. Little did I know that there was a thriving Baha’i community in Regina, Saskatchewan, where I lived.

Maybe five years later an acquaintance knocked on my door, and without saying much handed me the book Baha’i World Faith, and left.

I started reading, but found the book hard to penetrate. Still, something compelled me to keep at it and the words started to resonate within me, even though I didn’t fully understand them.

After studying the Baha’i teachings for a few years, I realized that they now made complete sense to me. I particularly appreciated the idea that all religions, from the Christian faith I grew up in, to the Eastern religions I was attracted to as a youth coming of age in the sixties, as well as Indigenous spiritual wisdom from around the world, were all part of a gradual unfoldment of the divine teachings delivered by a series of messengers, such as Christ, Buddha, Deganawida, and many others. I realized, too, that Baha’u’llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha’i Faith, was the most recent of these spiritual messengers.

Baha’u’llah wrote that his sole desire was “the regeneration of the whole world and the establishment of the unity of its peoples.” As someone involved in the environmental movement, I related strongly to that message. I understood that the Baha’is had a comprehensive plan to make Baha’u’llah’s revelation a reality – a plan now gradually unfolding around the globe. I hoped that I could contribute to it in some way, and that my little son would grow up to live in a peaceful world.

This passage from a particular text by Baha’u’llah had a profound effect on my decision: “… he who turneth away from this Beauty hath also turned away from the Messengers of the past and showeth pride towards God from all eternity to all eternity.”

I had a strong feeling that this was true, and I could not turn away, which is why I say I had no choice.

Shortly after becoming a Baha’i, I had a powerful dream. In the dream I was at the Baha’i Institute, a facility just outside Fort Qu’appelle, the town I lived in at the time. In the dream it was November, the time of year in Saskatchewan before the first snow when everything seems hard, frozen, dead. I was asked to go out and get a pail of water from the well. I walked out, feeling the cold, but as I came closer to the well it became warm. The trees had leafed out, but these trees and the other plants were of a different kind; there are no words to describe them, but I’ll just say they were multi-dimensional. The colors and fragrances were tactile, I could feel them. In that dream world I could smell colors and see fragrances.

I found myself in the most beautiful garden; everything was hyper-real, like the normal world but transcendent. I lowered the pail into the well and drew out what I can only describe as living water, water with multiple dimensions, water that could satisfy all thirsts. As I carried the water back to the building everything turned back into a normal cold November day in Saskatchewan.

For me, that dream was a powerful confirmation of my decision, which has stayed with me for more than 50 years. Now I am 72. If there is anything I have learned from life that is worth passing on, it is simply to invite everyone to seriously investigate Baha’u’llah’s stupendous revelation.

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What Does It Mean to Be a Baha’i?

By

Tony Ramos

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August 22, 2025

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Baha’is belong to the world’s newest major Faith, founded by Baha’u’llah, a 19th Century Persian mystic, prophet and prisoner who taught the unity of all nations, races and religions.

The Baha’i Faith tends to spread its message gently and quietly, and yet, in the past 150 years, it has become one of the most widespread religions on Earth. Representing all nationalities, backgrounds, ethnicities, social classes, and every beautiful color of the human race, you probably have Baha’is living in your community or somewhere near you.

If you look carefully you might even recognize them – Baha’is generally tend toward happiness, try to have a positive, radiant, healthy outlook on life, and express their love for humanity by engaging in volunteer work for children, the elderly and the poor. Baha’is do their utmost to exemplify the spiritual teachings of Baha’u’llah, which call upon everyone to know and love God and carry forth an ever-advancing civilization:

He is a true Baha’i who strives by day and by night to progress along the path of human endeavor, whose cherished desire is so to live and act as to enrich and illumine the world; whose source of inspiration is the essence of Divine Perfection, whose aim in life is to conduct himself so as to be the cause of infinite progress. – Abdu’l-Baha, The Baha’i World, vol. 2, p. xvi.

This series of nine short essays attempts to answer two of the most common questions people who encounter the Baha’i teachings ask – what does it mean to be a Baha’i, and how do you become one?

#1 – Progressive Revelation

Baha’is believe that all of the founders of the world’s major Faiths — including Moses, Abraham, Christ, Muhammad, Krishna, Buddha, and now Baha’u’llah — have appeared at intervals throughout history to write the chapters in a single great religion. Together these Manifestations and Prophets, sent by a loving Supreme Being to enable us to seek the answers to our deepest inner questions, have created a sequential, linked historical pattern of mystical and practical teachings Baha’is call progressive revelation.

In other words, Baha’is see the entire epic scope of religious revelation and belief as one single system.

Instead of competing messages from disparate and conflicting Messengers, Baha’is focus on the unity of all Faiths, the common messages of their Founders, and the essential oneness of their teachings. In the simplest terms, Baha’is believe that one God has given us one continuous Faith. Like teachers in a school, the Founders of the world’s great Faiths progressively reveal the knowledge and insight humanity needs to keep moving forward.

This simple and yet profound way to look at religion means Baha’is accept all of the major Faiths as legitimate and true. Religion is one, Baha’u’llah taught, revealed over the course of time by one loving God through a series of Divine Educators.

Baha’is come from Christian, Moslem, Jewish, Buddhist, Hindu and all other religious traditions; and Baha’is also come from agnostic and atheist and spiritual backgrounds. Becoming a Baha’i means embracing the one Faith that does not reject other Faiths.

Baha’u’llah wrote:

The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. – Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 215.

The essence of the Baha’i teachings — love, harmony and peace – reflect the essential message of all spiritual truths. Baha’is want to spread the love and unity Baha’u’llah describes, so the Baha’i community welcomes everyone. Please follow along in this series of articles as we discover how Baha’is lead their lives and what it means to be a Baha’i.

Read the next article in the series: Independent Investigation of Truth

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6 Baha’i Concepts for Life Beyond Adversarial Politics

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Tony Ramos

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July 10, 2025

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How do we move towards a more inclusive reality beyond the trappings of adversarial partisan politics?

We might want to try these six unity-building principles from the Baha’i teachings. They aren’t answers in themselves, but rather they suggest a new way of looking at the world that can allow for diverse people to contribute to a dynamic process of community transformation.

1. The Oneness of Humanity is a Universal Truth

We as a human race are increasingly coming to recognize our oneness. We are one interconnected human family in the most literal sense: genetic studies prove that every one of us is a distant cousin to every other human being on Earth. We live on one common planetary homeland and share one common biosphere, and we are now living in a moment of intensifying global interdependence. Pollution and war in one part of the world causes ripples that effect every other part of the planet, whether by contaminating a shared water source or by displacing millions of people across borders. We are so deeply connected it is as if we are the cells of one body, and if one part of the human body is sick or distressed, the rest of the body will suffer as well. We need a new model of social organization, so recognizing the fundamental truth of humanity’s oneness is paramount.

2. Humans Have the Capacity for Cooperation

The idea that humans are essentially selfish and must fight for power over others is part of the fabric of the world’s political life. But humans aren’t intractably corrupt, selfish, and aggressive; we also have the capacity for cooperation, reciprocity, and mutual service. What we need, now more than ever, are forums for community development that revolve around consultation and mutual respect. We must seek out new models of governance that reflect the human capacity for altruism.

3. Diversity is Necessary for Unity

Unity does not mean uniformity; instead we need diversity to bring new perspectives and innovation to solving our complex problems. Through a Baha’i model, the voices of those who have been historically the most marginalized must be brought to the center. The colonial and imperial projects that have oppressed masses of people over hundreds of years have their legacy in social structures that still value the privileged few. Real social prosperity can’t be realized until we have a framework that incorporates diverse voices from all segments of society into the work of governing human affairs.

4. Social Change Demands Universal Participation

Today people all over the world are mired in a culture of expecting the “experts” to solve our problems: waiting for elected politicians or other community leaders to make things right. How can we empower each other to see ourselves as agents of change within our local communities and focus on the positive change we can each contribute to? How can we break free from the false dichotomies of “the advanced” and “the backward”, the “developed” and the “underdeveloped?” All people must have a seat at the table, because each person is the real expert of his or her life.

5. History can be Reframed

Just like the development of an individual through stages of infancy, childhood, and adolescence, humanity has evolved from a “childhood” of independent tribal societies through an “adolescence” of more complex and integrated national communities. We now stand at the cusp of a collective coming of age: the emergence of a truly global civilization. More and more, we can see the emergence of worldviews that emphasize humanity’s unity and oneness. Some people still cling to the old narratives that say, “it always has been and always will be this way,” but we are living through a time of advancing global interdependence that has never been seen before. Now everyone on Earth has the choice to learn to accept responsibility for the welfare of the entire human family.

6. Humans Have Both a Spiritual and Material Dimension

Our spiritual dimension is as important our material dimension, and we desperately need social structures that provide for the development of both. This is not an assertion of a particular religious ideology. Rather, it expresses the idea that many people do feel love and connection to the Earth, to other humans, and to that unknowable essence that some people call God. Beyond having basic material necessities for survival, people need spiritual healing. People need to feel loved. The development of spiritual qualities such as love, justice, trustworthiness, patience, and gratitude, help us to connect authentically with each other and to contribute to social progress.

Moving Beyond the Political Divide

The solutions to the complex problems we face will not come easily, and they can’t be reduced to simple slogans. The reality of unity will only emerge organically, in relation to how well we as citizens build authentic bonds of trust, conquer our prejudices and establish new forums for true collaboration.

Baha’u’llah, the prophet and founder of the Baha’i Faith, warned us:

How long will humanity persist in its waywardness? How long will injustice continue? How long is chaos and confusion to reign amongst men? How long will discord agitate the face of society?… The winds of despair are, alas, blowing from every direction, and the strife that divideth and afflicteth the human race is daily increasing. The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective. – Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah, p. 216.

We can consume our time rallying against the continual assaults of a defective model of governance, or we can devote our energies towards promoting a new set of values and a new way of relating.

More than ever, we need to replace outdated modes of thought and behavior with a worldview that recognizes the oneness of humanity.

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The 3 Main Principles of the Baha’i Revelation

By

Tony Ramos

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July 25, 2025

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The sacred writings of Baha’u’llah, who lived from 1817 to 1892, extend from 1852, the year of the inception of the Baha’i Faith, to 1892, the year of his ascension – 40 years of revelation.

Both the Faiths of the Bab (1819-1850), the prophet who paved the way for the coming of Baha’u’llah, and of Baha’u’llah are characterized by an unprecedented ocean of revelatory outpouring.

That is why Baha’i scripture constitutes almost a library, rather than one or a few books.

In addition, there is no historical or objective doubt about the authenticity of these writings. The writings of Baha’u’llah by himself would be the equivalent of one hundred books, and the Baha’is have the originals. These writings address all kinds of issues in a variety of styles. However, despite the amazing diversity and plurality of Baha’u’llah’s writings, they all represent a grand divine order and unity:

Incline thine ear and hear! This is the voice of My pen raised before mystics, then divines, and then kings and rulers. – Ishráqát, p. 260.

This statement of Baha’u’llah unveils a unique order and unity. As he notes, he revealed his writings in three stages. The first stage of his revelation Baha’u’llah addressed to the mystics, the second to the divines and clerics, and the third to the kings and rulers of the world. This order is not accidental. The logical and dialectical structure of this order is itself another testimony to the primordial unity, originality, novelty and purity of Baha’u’llah’s consciousness.

In this reflection we will explore these three stages, the corresponding principle announced by each of them, and the logical connection and unity of all three.

The principle explained in the first stage is the mystical consciousness – that reality is ultimately spiritual. The second stage emphasizes historical consciousness and extends that dynamism to the realm of religion and the word of God. The third principle in the final stage of Baha’u’llah’s revelation emphasizes global consciousness and its twin requirements of the oneness of humankind and universal peace. Together, these three principles – mystical, historical and global – constitute an organic unity, and this unity defines the uniqueness of Baha’u’llah’s message.

1. Mystical Consciousness

The first stage of Baha’u’llah’s revelation, from 1852 to 1860, took place during much of his exile in Baghdad. Some of his principal works from this stage – The Hidden Words, The Four Valleys, The Ode of the Dove, and The Seven Valleys – emphasize the spiritual interpretation of reality.

According to the writings of Baha’u’llah, reality expresses ultimately diverse manifestations of divine names and attributes. All beings therefore are sublime mirrors in which the divine revelation is reflected and made manifest. This radical affirmation of the sacredness of all beings and the cosmic solidarity and unity of all things is based upon the idea that the ultimate truth of all beings is the very divine revelation that is enshrined within their inmost hearts. History, then, is a spiritual journey towards the realization and unfoldment of this all-encompassing inherent divine revelation in the lives of human beings. In Baha’u’llah’s The Hidden Words we read:

O Son of Man! Thou art My dominion and My dominion perisheth not, wherefore fearest thou thy perishing? Thou art My light and My light shall never be extinguished, why dost thou dread extinction? Thou art My glory and My glory fadeth not; thou art My robe and My robe shall never be outworn. Abide then in thy love for Me, that thou mayest find Me in the realm of Glory.

The principle of the spiritual nature of all beings differentiates the viewpoint of Baha’u’llah from all materialistic worldviews and all social theories that divest sociocultural order from spiritual values and moral orientation. Thus, according to Baha’u’llah, one of the most important foundations of social order is the commitment of society to moral and spiritual values.

Such a spiritual orientation means that we should observe reality as an interconnected unity, rather than a set of fragmented, independent, solid objects. The truth of everything is the divine revelation, meaning that all beings are interconnected and one. However, this same spiritual understanding of existence implies an opposite principle as well. Consciousness is always a unique and individual reality. Therefore, humans as independent spiritual beings all have the duty to think for themselves. The metaphysics compatible with this mystical consciousness – unity in diversity – calls for an ever-increasing unification of the planet and all of its peoples.

2. Historical Consciousness

Although Baha’u’llah’s first principle sequesters his message from any materialistic worldview, the second constitutive principle of his worldview differentiates his vision from all religious forms of traditionalism.

This second principle is the principle of historical consciousness or the historicity of life. In the second stage of his revelation, from 1860 to 1867, during the last years of his stay in Baghdad and continuing during his banishment to Istanbul and Adrianople, Baha’u’llah spoke in terms of issues that relate to sacred scriptures.

Here the divines and the learned of various religious persuasions became the direct recipients of his writings. Chief among these works are the Book of Certitude and the New Wondrous Book. This dynamic conception is particularly relevant to the realm of human culture and society.

Social reality is a perpetually advancing phenomenon. Such dynamism applies not only to the realm of human cultural institutions but also to the realm of the revelation of divine word itself. Baha’is call this all-encompassing and radical affirmation of historical consciousness in the writings of Baha’u’llah the principle of progressive revelation.

Culture and society are defined by perpetual change and transformation, which means that the revelation of the eternal Will of God becomes something historical and dynamic as well. Baha’u’llah, therefore, sees in all diverse religions one and the same eternal truth. That creative divine Will reflects itself in the form of new laws and doctrines, in different ages, in accordance with the level of the development of humanity and the specific needs of all people at that particular stage of advancement. Thus for Baha’u’llah, all prophets of God represent one and the same eternal reality, who appear in different ages as diverse and historically-specific human persons with different laws as required by the material and spiritual development of society in that stage of humankind’s development. In other words, the message of this second principle is the unity in diversity of all religions:

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 the 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. – Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u’llah

Although historical consciousness is present in the philosophical systems of a number of philosophers like Hegel and Marx, Baha’u’llah’s principle is qualitatively different. First, this historical dynamic never ends in an ultimate historical state. Thus, for Baha’u’llah, even the truth of his own revelation is relative to the present stage of development of humanity, and therefore his revelation is not the last divine revelation. Divine revelation, on the contrary is eternal and everlasting. Secondly, Baha’u’llah applies this historical logic not only to the realm of human culture, but also to the realm of the revelation of divine word as well.

3. Global Consciousness

The unity of the first and second principles implies the third principle of the worldview of Baha’u’llah. The two first principles together declare the necessity of the renewal of spiritual order at this stage of the maturation of humanity in ways that accord with the fundamental challenge of historical development in this age.

The third principle of Baha’u’llah’s worldview is the principle of the oneness of humankind and the imperative of universal peace. According to this Baha’i vision of the world’s future, an effective and just solution to diverse problems of humanity at this stage of its development requires the adoption of a global consciousness that is based upon the fundamental premise of the essential unity of the entire human race.

This global approach is not simply a cult of brotherly love or a utopian fantasy. Emphasized through his letters to the rulers of the world in 1867-1868, and elaborated throughout the rest of his life, Baha’u’llah’s third principle calls for the emergence of a new culture of peace and unity, a new consultative and democratic international structure, and new consultative and just social institutions. Baha’u’llah’s teachings aim to create a social order defined by the principle of unity in diversity:

That one indeed is a man who, today, dedicateth himself to the service of the entire human race. The Great Being saith: Blessed and happy is he that ariseth to promote the best interests of the peoples and kindreds of the earth. … It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens.

Anyone can see the remarkable dialectical nature of these three stages. The first stage emphasizes the abstract and mystical unity of humanity. The second stage negates that abstraction and affirms the historical diversity and the dynamic nature of the spirit. The third stage affirms the concrete, historically-specific unity of humankind.

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Baha’i Consultation: Group Work on the Job

By

Tony Ramos

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September 7, 2025

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On a music streaming service this morning, I happened to hear one of the many recorded versions of the song “No Man Is an Island,” which I remembered singing it at summer…

The post Baha’i Consultation: Group Work on the Job appeared first on BahaiTeachings.org.

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How a Short Baha’i Book Changed My Spiritual Life

By

Tony Ramos

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October 29, 2025

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If you haven’t already gotten to know Baha’u’llah’s short book “The Hidden Words,” then you might want to get a copy. And if you’re already familiar with it but haven’t given it a close look in a while, I suggest you throw yourself into it.

Made up of 153 brief passages revealed by Baha’u’llah in 1858, as he walked on the banks of the river Tigris in Baghdad, Iraq, “The Hidden Words” is direct and straightforward, yet endlessly nuanced and esoteric. It speaks straight to the reader but always holds new stores of meaning. “The Hidden Words” defies the dry sort of reading that occurs in academic settings or the half-absent scroll-through typical to the social media experience. Instead, it is written in the voice of God, as a divine love letter to the human reader. Here is some of the language of the heart one finds within:

“Thou art My lamp and My light is in thee.”

“I have made death a messenger of joy to thee. Wherefore dost thou grieve?”

“Purge thy heart from malice and, innocent of envy, enter the divine court of holiness.”

“Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent.”

With other books, the main interest of the reader is to obtain information. Reading is just a way of extracting the elements of knowledge contained within its pages. But this book is different. It facilitates experiences of inner transformation. I think the following three passages show this well. In one, Baha’u’llah explains the reason why we were created: “O Son of Man! Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty.”

He also describes the hidden potentials inside each one of us in this passage: “O Son of Spirit! Noble have I created thee, yet thou hast abased thyself. Rise then unto that for which thou wast created.” And again, in this one: “O Befriended Stranger! The candle of thine heart is lighted by the hand of My power, quench it not with the contrary winds of self and passion. The healer of all thine ills is remembrance of Me, forget it not. Make My love thy treasure and cherish it even as thy very sight and life.”

“The Hidden Words” attracts us into an enveloping experience of spiritual search. It lends itself to moments of meditation we normally have away from a screen or book. It makes us want to soak ourselves in its words. And one of the best ways to experience that is — dare I say it — to memorize them. Fortunately, that doesn’t imply we should memorize the whole thing as a large block! In my experience, moving through too much text too quickly almost certainly hampers meditation. The main thing is to be able to recall individual sayings, which are usually no longer than a handful of sentences, and to be able to let them sink in, even with our eyes off the page.

I’ve recently developed the habit of keeping a tiny paper copy of “The Hidden Words” in my pocket at all times. When the moment feels right, which often happens unexpectedly, I pull it out and choose a passage at random. I focus on it deeply and try to commit its words to memory. Once I think I have it, I close the book, leaving my finger as a bookmark, and repeat the passage to myself until I’m sure I’ve memorized it.

This is something I’ve found works for me; other people might find other methods more spiritually uplifting. What matters is that each of us identify practices that help us hold true to our spiritual path.

Memorizing and meditating on individual passages of “The Hidden Words” has helped make the conversational nature of prayer more concrete for me. On the one hand, I have everything I want to say to God. And on the other hand, in order to hear what God has to say to me, I don’t have to rely on doubtful interpretations of spiritual feelings inside of me or of external events around me: I can focus my attention on what God has revealed for humanity in the sacred writings of Baha’u’llah. There’s always insight that can be gleaned through turning my mind and heart to the word of God.

To be mindful of God’s presence as we think something through is a kind of prayer. I can hold myself in silence as I allow the passage to address me. I can put questions to God about the meaning of specific lines and reflect on its significance and implications for my own life. Before I have any more to say to God, I must remember that he already has so much to say to me. And so much of it is contained in the 153 short messages of love that make up Baha’u’llah’s “The Hidden Words.”

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#1 – Progressive Revelation

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1. The Oneness of Humanity is a Universal Truth

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3. Diversity is Necessary for Unity

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5. History can be Reframed

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