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Let us thank God who
has drawn us together this evening. It gives me great joy, for I see that
you are seekers after truth. You are not held in bondage by the chains
of prejudice, and your greatest longing is to know the truth. Truth may
be likened to the sun! The sun is the luminous body that disperses all
shadows; in the same way does truth scatter the shadows of our imagination.
As the sun gives life to the body of humanity so does truth give life
to their souls.
Baha'is in the Albany, New York USA cluster celebrate the beginning of the New Baha'i Year. (Photo by Paul Murray, BahaiPrinciples.org) 
Truth is a sun that
rises from different points on the horizon. Sometimes the sun rises from
the centre of the horizon, then in summer it rises farther north, in winter
farther south - but it is always the self-same sun, however different
are the points of its rising.
In like manner truth
is one, although its manifestations may be very different. Some men have
eyes and see. These worship the sun, no matter from which point on the
horizon it may dawn; and when the sun has left the winter sky to appear
in the summer one, they know how to find it again. Others there are who
worship only the spot from which the sun arose, and when it arises in
its glory from another place they remain in contemplation before the spot
of its former rising. Alas! these men are deprived of the blessings of
the sun. Those who in truth adore the sun itself will recognize it from
whatsoever dawning-place it may appear, and will straightway turn their
faces towards its radiance.
Three of the robes worn by Bahá’u’lláh displayed in the Bahá'í International Archives. (Lacey Crawford, 1970)
We must adore the sun
itself and not merely the place of its appearance. In the same way men
of enlightened heart worship truth on whatever horizon it appears. They
are not bound by personality, but they follow the truth, and are able
to recognize it no matter from whence it may come. It is this same truth
which helps humanity to progress, which gives life to all created beings,
for it is the Tree of Life!
('Abdu'l-Bahá:
Paris Talks, Pages: 127--134)
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ACRE, Israel — Less than a kilometer outside this fortified medieval city in northern Israel is a whitewashed mansion, surrounded by elaborate gardens, known as Bahji.
For Bahá’ís, it is the holiest place on earth.
Beneath one of the buildings in the garden, the earthly remains of Bahá’u’lláh were laid to rest in 1892 – and today that structure is known as the Shrine of Bahá’u’lláh.
It is understandable, then, that delegates arriving from 153 countries for the 10th International Bahá’í Convention are streaming to Bahji as part of the process to prepare themselves for tomorrow’s election of the Universal House of Justice, the supreme governing body of the Bahá’í Faith.
“We came out Saturday night, on the last bus, at 11 p.m.” said Bahia Ettehadieh, 53, a delegate from Austria, “and it was amazing to see so many friends still here at midnight."
Read the entire story.
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