ENGLISH-SUB Welcome, elevated viewers, to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms. “O SON OF SPIRIT! My first counsel is this: Possess a pure, kindly and radiant heart, that thine may be a sovereignty ancient, imperishable and everlasting.” Thus begins “From the Arabic,” the first selection of “The Hidden Words” as revealed by the beloved Bahá’u’lláh, the founder of the Bahá’í faith.

In reverence of the birth anniversary of Bahá’u’lláh, today’s presentation is dedicated to Bahá’u’lláh and the origin of the Bahá’í faith. We had the opportunity to speak with some Bahá’í members. Mr. Nathan Davis from Chicago, the United States, described the compassionate nature of Bahá'u'lláh.

Bahá'u'lláh came from what is now Iran; then it was called Persia. He was born in the year 1817. Bahá’u’lláh actually grew up in a very wealthy and noble family. His father was one of the ministers of the King of Persia, of the Shah. And so Bahá’u’lláh grew up in a lot of affluence and wealth, and he even had a career laid out for him in the government, so he could be very successful and very wealthy.

But he never really aspired to that kind of lifestyle and he spent his younger years mostly in the countryside, in the gardens, giving a lot of his possessions to the poor. He was known to the people of his town as “the father of the poor,” and his wife was known as “the mother of consolation.” They were very generous and charitable people.

In the mid-1800s, Bahá’u’lláh joined thousands of other Truth seekers in a spiritual movement called the Bábí faith. However, those times were tumultuous, and Bahá'u'lláh was detained.

Bahá’u’lláh, for four months, was beneath the ground in this dungeon. And it was there that he had a divine revelation, where he essentially knew that he was actually being called by God as a divine messenger to bring a new faith and usher in a new era of human history.

In Bahá'u'lláh’s case, the symbol of the Holy Spirit coming to him was what we call the Maid of Heaven. A beautiful Maiden came and hovered in the air above him in the prison cell and pointed to him, and then addressed all of Creation and saying that this is the beauty of God amongst you, if you could just understand it.

And she said many more things and promised him that his cause would triumph in the world; it would prosper, no matter what happened. She said, “Thou art in safety,” and promised him ultimate victory. And the faith has achieved victory. It’s remained united throughout the world and there are more than 5 million followers of the Bahá’í faith in the world today and it continues to grow on all parts of the planet.

After his awakening, Bahá’u’lláh traveled around the Middle East and ultimately settled in the holy land of Israel. During this time, he shared his teachings by means of personal recitations and writings, which formed the Bahá'í scriptures that have continued to this day. Mr. Davis shares further insights on the essence of the Bahá'í faith.

The Bahá'í faith is based on three main principles. Bahá’u’lláh taught that there is one God, one Creator, and that this God has always existed and will always exist and that this is the same God that has sent all of the religions. So no matter whether we call that God – “God,” or “Allah” or “Jehovah” or “Yahweh”– whatever word we use, this is the same spiritual essence.

Bahá’u’lláh highlighted the splendor and preciousness of the diversity on Earth.

Bahá’u’lláh taught that the diversity of the human race adds to the beauty of the human race. And this temple that we are in today and all the Bahá’í temples around the world are surrounded by gardens. And the garden is sort of a metaphor for this spiritual diversity or the physical diversity of the human race. The different colors and personalities and different traits of people is what makes humanity beautiful, the same way the different flowers of a garden make the garden beautiful.

We do have in our teachings an awareness of kindness to animals. My own family, we have pets, very beloved animals that give us much joy in our lives. And Bahá'u'lláh says they deserve to be treated kindly because they do not have the power of speech. They can't defend themselves, so they need our compassion.

Bahá'í faith emphasizes the importance of daily prayer, compassion, and devotion to our fellow co-inhabitants. Mr. Edward Price recites for us one of the daily prayers of the Bahá'ís.

It is called The Short Obligatory Prayer and it goes like this, “I bear witness, O my God, that Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting.”

We will be right back to learn more about the benevolent influence of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings on humankind. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television.

Wondrous viewers, welcome back to A Journey through Aesthetic Realms on Supreme Master Television. Today’s program honors the beloved founder of the Bahá'í faith, Bahá’u’lláh, whose teachings of virtue and compassion have attracted and transformed many followers.

I often wonder what would have happened to me if I hadn’t encountered the Bahá'í faith. In my early years I was a very confused young man, and the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh completely redirected my life. I became a person that cared very much about spiritual matters, cared very much about service to humanity. I was enamored of Bahá'u'lláh’s teaching that service to humanity is the same as prayer. So you can be engaged in prayer constantly through your whole day if you are doing something that is of service to all of humanity, not just yourself.

And the ethical and spiritual teachings, the moral standard, and a life of spiritual purity, where we stay away from harmful things like drug abuse and those sorts of things. It completely revolutionized my life and inspired my mind to take on greater and greater challenges in my life. And that’s what Bahá'u'lláh's done and much more I would have to say.

It’s very much encouraged me and taught me to live a life always trying to be of service to others. To help the world in some way, whether it’s another person or a community or whatever the situation is, to just live a life not for myself but the betterment of humanity.

Indeed, according to the Bahá'í faith, a spiritually enlightened world is the key to moving forward as a whole.

Bahá’u’lláh says that we should “know of our own knowledge, not through the knowledge of our neighbor,” meaning that we all have been given the capacity to search out the Truth, and to find our calling in life and to find our path of service in life. And so whenever I look into anything, whether it’s a new discovery, a new theory about living, I always try to look at it through spiritual eyes and search out the Truth in it.

Because I look at things with a searching eye I am really able to keep growing as the human knowledge and our collective spiritual knowledge increases. I am able to learn with all people, with the world, and keep on my spiritual journey. And I think that’s really what it’s all about. When we work together, and when we look at things with a spirit of search, then I think we’re able to really learn from each other and create a lot more peace and harmony in the world.

Through Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings, many people have discovered that God’s love and light is omnipresent.

Through all of the ups and downs of life, which we all go through, the biggest comfort I found is in the belief that none of us is ever alone, and that we’re always protected. So, through all the journeys, I never feel like I’ve gone through it by myself.

Bahá'u'lláh says, “Oh Son of Light forget all, save me and commune with my Spirit. This is of the essence of my command therefore turn unto it.” That just sums up everything, that no matter what we are going through and no matter what the period is in our lives, we need to forget everything except for God. That’s the core of everything is to always commune with God. And have Him be our guiding Light throughout our lives.

The reverent Baha'u'llah left this earthly life in 1892, designating his eldest son, Abdu'l-Baha, as his successor to interpret his teachings and be the head of the faith. Abdu'l-Baha continued to rejoice in the multitude of forms of life which our Creator has bestowed upon us. He advocated vegetarianism, saying, “The food of the future will be fruit and grains. The time will come when meat will no longer be eaten. Medical science is only in its infancy, yet it has shown that our natural food is that which grows out of the ground.”

Our guests wished to share their special message of hope for the world.

Always live a life thinking of others. Through living a life in that way, we find our own happiness.

Living a life of giving, sacrifice, and selflessness is the best gift that you can give to others, as well as to yourself.

I would just say to the viewers who are perhaps concerned or worried about the state of the world that our destiny as a human race is to care for an ever- advancing civilization. And when we choose to act in accordance with the law of unity, we’re advancing that progress towards our destiny. When we cling to the thing that is growing, to the unity, to the love, to the acceptance, we’re feeding that spiritual process to create a new world. And we should have confidence in that we are going to make it as a human race, and everything is going to be okay.

We sincerely thank our Bahá’í friends, Mr. Nathan Davis, Ms. Nura Mowzoon, and Mr. Edward Price, for graciously sharing your understanding on the great Bahá'u'lláh and his teachings. We pray that the Bahá’í faith’s universal message of brotherly love will soon become our reality, so that all beings may live together in an Eden on Earth.

Enlightened viewers, thank you for joining us today on A Journey through Aesthetic Realms. Please stay tuned to Supreme Master Television for Vegetarianism: The Noble Way of Living coming up next after Noteworthy News. May the light of Truth guide you in all your endeavors.

For more information on the Bahá’ís around the world, please visit