Bahai Philosophy and the Question of the Environment

guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul. Love is the most great law that ruleth this mighty and heavenly Cycle, the unique power that bindeth together the diverse elements of this material world, the supreme magnetic force that directs the movements of the spheres in the celestial realms. Love revealeth with unfailing and limitless power the mysteries latent in the universe. Love is the spirit of life unto the adorned body of mankind, the establisher of true civilization in this mortal world, and the shedder of imperishable glory upon every high-aiming race and nation. xv But aside from the Bahá’í metaphysical standpoint, the Bahá’í writings are filled with emphasis on the empirical reality of the principle of cosmic reciprocity, interdependence, and unity. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá frequently and directly criticized the materialistic interpretation of Darwinism which legitimized war, domination, and conflict against nature and other humans. Emphasizing the organic character of cosmic reality He wrote: . . . even as the human body in this world, which is outwardly composed of different limbs and organs, is in reality a closely integrated , coherent entity, similarly the structure of the physical world is like unto a single being whose limbs and members are inseparably linked together. Were one to observe with an eye that discovereth the realities of all things, it would become clear that the greatest relationship that bindeth the world of being together lieth in the range of created things themselves, and that co-operation, mutual aid, and reciprocity are essential characteristics in the unified body of the world of being, inasmuch as all created things are closely related together and each is influenced by the other or deriveth benefit therefrom, either directly or indirectly... Hence it was stated that co-operation and reciprocity are essential properties which are inherent in the unified system of the world of existence, and without which the entire creation would be reduced to nothingness. xvi The second principle concerning the relation of human nature and universal nature relates to the fact that although the overall structural principle of reality is one of harmony and interdependence, there also exists some degree of conflict and struggle for existence at the level of observable empirical natural species. Thus while the Bahá’í teachings deny the reduction of

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