Alliance Spiritualiste of Paris
9 November 1911
Paris, France
I am very grateful for the words and sentiments expressed by
the general secretary. I give thanks to God to find myself in Paris in such a
spiritual assembly.
If we look at the atmosphere of this meeting, we see that
the spirit floats in it, the bounties of God descend, the aid of the Holy
Spirit is seen. Thanks to God, these hearts are endowed with spiritual
sentiments; the vibrations of the soul make themselves felt.
The spirit is like the sea, this assembly like the waves -- though
they are numerous, they all come from the same sea; though they apparently have
different forms and aspects, the unity of the spirit is manifest.
All the prophets and Divine Manifestations have come to
educate men, in order that the unity of the human world may shine clearly and
distinctly, so that there remains no authority to the waves; that the authority
be peculiar to the sea, for the spirit is like the sea and the bodies are like
the waves.
It is said in the Gospels, "Jerusalem will come down
out of heaven from God." This heavenly Jerusalem is not made of stone, of
lime and of clay, but it is made of the divine teachings which shine among men
by the power of the spirit. For a long time, the divine teachings had been
forgotten, no trace remained of the light of the heavenly Jerusalem. When
Bahá'u'lláh manifested Himself from the Orient, the light of His divine
teachings shone forth in Persia unto other parts of the world. This divine
teaching is the heavenly Jerusalem which has again "come down out of
heaven". Although that edifice had fallen to pieces, it is founded anew. The
corporal and material forces ruled over the Orient; now the spiritual forces
have taken their place.
