Arts in the Bahá'í Faith
 Mandala painting, by Margaret Bremner |
Arts, crafts and sciences uplift the world of being, and are conducive to its exaltation. Knowledge is as wings to man's life, and a ladder for his ascent. Its acquisition is incumbent upon everyone.
Bahá'u'lláh, Epistle to the Son of the Wolf, p. 26
Baha'u'llah's son `Abdu'l-Bahö also counselled parents to educate their children to become accomplished practitioners of the arts, associating it with "matters of great import":
While the children are yet in their infancy feed them from the breast of heavenly grace, foster them in the cradle of all excellence, rear them in the embrace of bounty. Give them the advantage of every useful kind of knowledge. Let them share in every new and rare and wondrous craft and art... Teach them to dedicate their lives to matters of great import, and inspire them to undertake studies that will benefit mankind.
Abdu'l-Bahá, Selections from the Writings of `Abdu'l-Bahá, p. 129
 A vessel for the Hidden Words (glass), by Tarasieh Werle-Vahdat |
Each human life is a journey toward awakening an awareness of the Divine, starting from childhood. The Seven Valleys, a mystical essay by Bahá'u'lláh in the style of Persian Sufi poetry, vividly depicts the personal journey every human being takes toward transcendence using the metaphor of seven valleys each traveller must traverse.
These journeys have no visible ending in the world of time, but the severed wayfarer — if invisible confirmation descends upon him and the Guardian of the Cause assist him — may cross these seven stages in seven steps, nay rather in seven breaths, nay rather in a single breath, if God will and desire it.
Bahá'u'lláh, Seven Valleys, para. 64
Linda Rosenbluth, president of the Sarasota's Sister Cities program, said that "We have to know what people on the other side of the ocean think, and we have to understand them." Art can accomplish much of this understanding, even without the personal contact such exchange programs can provide. Baha'i art is especially concerned with this bridging of cultures. "The Earth is one country, and mankind its citizens," wrote Bahö'u'llöh. Art reaches across barriers of language, culture, and religion, and has the potential to be one of humanity's greatest unifiers. It can teach us about other cultures by expressing experience directly, without words.
