BUILDING COMMUNITY IN OUR NEIGHBORHOOD- THE MORAL EDUCATION APPROACH
The World in Crisis You would agree that the world is currently in a state of chaos apparent with social crisis such asdrug-taking, alcoholism, immorality etc. The moral crisis that we are faced with in this age and time isnot confined to any one nation, race, religious group, class or creed. It afflicts both the rich and poor;the educated and the illiterate; the religious and the secular. It is a universal phenomenon. The worldis NO longer a safe place to live. Our children are exposed to all kinds of influences and we cannotguarantee how they will turn out. Is that the kind of future we want for our children and for ourselves?
The Key to Solution There is an urgent and critical need to rectify these shortcomings to enable the world to become abetter place to live.
Changing to the world’s problems and the chaos must start with the individual withan extension of community – our neighborhood – our immediate world, based on moral and spiritualeducation.
Material education is like the lamp and virtues and spiritual qualities is the light within thelamp.
When both become united, the outcome will be perfect.
If we have all the material advances butdo not have people of high virtues and attributes, it is like having a beautiful lamp but without light;humanity will not prosper and attain peace.

The Logic Behind – Osmosis Protection

The best protection to oneself is to first protect others. For unless the world around is safe, one can not be sure thatone is safe. Beside hours spent in sleep, most of us spend our remaining hours elsewhere - away from home. Ourchildren spend those hours at school; we spend in working; and the housewives running errand for house-chores. In weekends, we spend in the park, eating at restaurant, shopping at complexes etc. Therefore, it is logic to say that until the space beyond our home is safe, one can not be sure that he or she is safe.When we make our surrounding safe, multitude will ensure our safety. When there is a sense of community in ourneighborhood, we live with peace of mind as we know our children will be safe on the street. This way of osmosis protection is much effective than by putting up higher fencing and equipping fancy door-sets and window grilles just toprotect ourselves. Instead, we as individuals must arise and make an effort to engage ourselves in community building.

Creating ‘Sense of Community’ Thru Moral Education

Is there a community in our neighborhood? Sadly, therehardly exists any ‘sense of community’ in our neighborhood.Everyone seems to live to themselves and it is notuncommon that one doesn’t even know who their neighboris. The situation gets worst when neighbors suspect eachother, adding trouble to the already mounting social crisis.Baha’is around the world are trying their best to reinstate thissense of community in their neighborhood through offering aseries of activities that focus on empowering individuals withmoral capabilities. Based on moral and spiritual education,these community development activities aimed to bringabout personal transformation in children, youth and adultsand at the same time, effect social transformation in buildinga healthy and harmonious community in our neighborhood.
(For further information, please contact your bahai nearest centre)
national bahai Headquarters 2122179

Tablet to a Physician (Lawh-i-Tibb)by Universal House of Justice
2000-04-20
Dear Bahá'í Friend,
Your email of 14 December 1999, inquiring about a translation of Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet to a Physician subsequent to the one found in Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, was received by the Universal House of Justice and referred to our Department for reply.
Excerpts from Bahá'u'lláh's Tablet to a Physician appeared in Star of the West, volume 13, page 252, as well as in many and various Bahá'í newsletters and compilations, as an early translation of a portion of the Tablet entitled "Lawh-i-Tibb", revealed by Bahá'u'lláh in honour of Mirza Muhammad Rida Yazdi, a physician. However, until such time as conditions are propitious for the Tablet to be translated, only portions of it have an authorized translation. For your convenience, we are enclosing the text of the early, partial translation of the Tablet to a Physician which was published in Star of the West, as cited above, along with a related exhortation from Bahá'u'lláh taken from Star of the West, volume 21, number 5, page 160. Furthermore, it may interest you to know that the prayer starting with the words, "Thy Name is my healing ..." is also found in this Tablet.
With regard to the Tablet, on 18 December 1945 a letter was written on behalf of the beloved Guardian to an individual believer stating:
The Tablet to a Physician was addressed to a man who was a student of the old type of healing prevalent in the East and familiar with the terminology used in those days, and He addresses him in terms used by the medical men of those days. These terms are quite different from those used by modern medicine, and one would have to have a deep knowledge of this former school of medicine to understand the questions Bahá'u'lláh was elucidating.
It is hoped that this information will be of assistance to you, and you may be assured of the loving prayers of the House of Justice in the Holy Shrines that the tender mercies of Bahá'u'lláh may surround you.
With loving Bahá'í greetings, Department of the Secretariat
Enclosure
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PHYSICAL HEALING
Some rules for health, from a Tablet revealed by Bahá'u'lláh.
O God! The Supreme Knower! The Ancient Tongue speaks that which will satisfy the wise in the absence of doctors.
O People, do not eat except when you are hungry. Do not drink after you have retired to sleep.
Exercise is good when the stomach is empty; it strengthens the muscles. When the stomach is full it is very harmful.
Do not neglect medical treatment, when it is necessary, but leave it off when the body is in good condition.
Do not take nourishment except when (the process of) digestion is completed. Do not swallow until you have thoroughly masticated your food.
Treat disease first of all through diet, and refrain from medicine. If you can find what you need for healing in a single herb do not use a compound medicine. Leave off medicine when the health is good, and use it in case of necessity.
If two diametrically opposite foods are put on the table do not mix them. Be content with one of them. Take first the liquid food before partaking of solid food. The taking of food before that which you have already eaten is digested is dangerous....
When you have eaten walk a little that the food may settle.
That which is difficult to masticate is forbidden by the wise. Thus the Supreme Pen commands you.
A light meal in the morning is as a light to the body.
Avoid all harmful habits: they cause unhappiness in the world.
Search for the causes of disease. This saying is the conclusion of this utterance. (Star of the West, vol. 13, no. 9, December 1922, p. 252)
In God must be our trust. There is no God but Him, the Healer, the Knower, the Helper.... Nothing in earth or heaven is outside the grasp of God.
O doctor! In treating the sick, first mention the name of God, the Possessor of the Day of Judgment, and then use what God hath destined for the healing of His creatures. By My Life! The doctor who has drunk from the Wine of My Love, his visit is healing, and his breath is mercy and hope. Cling to him for the welfare of the constitution. He is confirmed by God in his treatment.

Recognition of the Next Manifestation of God by Universal House of Justice 1997
The Universal House of Justice has received your email message of 24 May 1997 inquiring about the eventual recognition of the next Manifestation of God by the Universal House of Justice. Regarding your request to be provided with a copy of a particular letter from the House of Justice to an individual believer in which this matter was addressed, regrettably we were not able to determine which of several letters written on this subject by the House of Justice, or by the Department of the Secretariat on behalf of the House of Justice, you were referring to.
One such letter, which encompasses the contents of the others, is excerpted below.
With reference to infallibility, you quote from "Gleanings from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh" that "trials and tribulations have, from time immemorial, been the lot of the chosen Ones of God...", and express concern that this implies that the Universal House of Justice will not recognize the next Manifestation of God.
There are several statements in the Sacred Scriptures of our Faith which are related to this general subject, and one in particular is found in "The Dispensation of Bahá'u'lláh", ("The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh", p. 117) as follows: "My fears are for Him Who will be sent down unto you after Me Him Who will be invested with great sovereignty and mighty dominion". When a National Assembly wrote to the Guardian, asking about this reference, the following reply was sent on his behalf. "...this refers to the Manifestation Who is to come after a thousand or more years, Who like all previous Messengers of God will be subjected to persecutions, but will eventually triumph over them. For men of ill will have been and will always continue to be in this world, unless mankind reaches a state of complete and absolute perfection a condition which is not only improbable but actually impossible to attain." As you see, the persecutions to which the next Manifestation will be subjected will be carried out, according to the above statement, by "men of ill will" who, alas, "will continue to be in this world". There is nothing in the Writings to support the view that the opposition or persecution will be instigated or inflicted by the Universal House of Justice.
You are aware, of course, that one of the reasons for the appearance of a new Manifestation of God is to bring forth a spiritual renewal, as the former Dispensation would have passed through its stages of growth and reached its zenith. You can be sure that the Supreme Institution of the Faith, "under the care and protection of the Abhá Beauty, under the shelter and unerring guidance of His Holiness, the Exalted One", will exert every effort to recognize, when the time is ripe, the reality of the new Manifestation, and lead men to Him. How the majority of the people at that time will respond is a truth locked up in the treasury of God's knowledge.
We trust that this information will aid in your understanding of this subject.
Department of the Secretariat