Recovering from childhood trauma

9 September 1992

Dear Bahá'í Friend,

The Universal House of Justice has received your letter of 21 July 1992, which raises a number of questions as a consequence of your traumatic experiences as a child. We have been asked to provide the following response.

The House of Justice is distressed to hear of the appalling ceremonies in which you were compelled to participate as a child. You are truly blessed to have been enabled to accept Bahá'u'lláh as the Manifestation of God for this Age, and to have access to the limitless spiritual powers with which His life-giving Revelation is infused. You can draw on these powers by your prayers as well as your participation in the work of the Faith and the life of the Bahá'í community; through this effort, and through your consultation with competent professionals having expertise in your area of need, you can promote your healing from the damaging effects of your past experiences, and can find happiness and tranquillity. You are assured of the prayers of the Universal House of Justice in the Holy Shrines on your behalf.

Turning now to the questions you have posed, you are encouraged to study carefully the passages in the Holy Writings, and especially the Tablets and talks of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, pertaining to the nature of man. Every human being has a spiritual nature and also a material nature; his purpose is to subdue the material nature, which inclines him to evil, and, with the aid of Divine Teachings, to develop his spiritual nature so that he can manifest praiseworthy attributes. An individual who chooses to surrender to the promptings of his material nature can sink to levels of depravity and bestiality which are abhorrent to the discerning eye, and which are totally unworthy of the human station. The Bahá'í Teachings inform us that there is no independent force of evil in creation, but terms such as "devil" or Satan" are used in sacred books as symbols of the promptings of the lower nature of man.

Recitation of the Tablets of Visitation at Baha’i Holy Days

19 August 1992

The Universal House of Justice has received your letter of 15 June 1992 regarding the conduct of Bahá'í Holy Day observances. We have been asked to provide the following response.

The commemoration of Holy Days, including the development of programs for these observances, is a matter left to the discretion of the appropriate National and Local Spiritual Assemblies, which are entrusted with the responsibility of ensuring that such observances are conducted in a manner in keeping with the spirit of the divine teachings and ordinances. While it is customary for the Tablets of Visitation to be recited at the conclusion of the Holy Day programs held at the Bahá'í World Centre, as well as in countries of the Middle East, this practice is not binding upon Bahá'í communities elsewhere, nor has a specific time been fixed for the recitations to occur.

Nothing has been found in the Bahá'í Writings requiring the friends to stand and face the Qiblih whenever the Tablets of Visitation are recited. No issue should be made of this matter when a Holy Day observance is being held. However, when one is actually in, or within the precincts of one of the Holy Shrines, it is an act of simple reverence to stand and face that Shrine when the Tablet of Visitation is recited.

For the Department of the Secretariat

(Baha’i Library Online)