萬物合一的時代！WE ARE ONE！

【巴哈伊图书馆】

《美洲与至大和平》

America and the Most Great Peace

译者：苏英芬+ AI

致遍及美国与加拿大、主所钟爱的人，以及仁慈者的侍女们：

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朋友们——上帝圣道的同工与促进者同仁：

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待今夏将尽之际，距巴哈欧拉之名首次在美洲大陆被提及，已届四十载。对于任何一位沉思此一伟大里程碑在美利坚共和国灵性史上所具有之意义的观察者而言，那第一次公开提及我们所挚爱之圣道创立者的种种情境，必显得格外奇异。更奇异的，乃是在那一历史时刻所说出的短短几句话，必然在聆听者心中唤起了何等联想。

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当巴哈欧拉所宣告之启示的存在与目的，首次向美国民众作出这一暗示时，并无任何盛典排场，也无任何公众的欢庆或民众的喝彩来迎接它。［注：此为亨利·H·杰瑟普博士在1893年芝加哥哥伦布世界博览会“世界宗教议会”上的一次演讲中所作之提及。——编者］而那位被拣选为传达此讯息之工具的人，也未自称相信所传递之消息内在所蕴含的力量，更未料到这一次看似随意的提及，竟注定要释放出何等巨大的力量。

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这至大圣名的信息，竟由一位公开支持那种狭隘教权主义的人之口被宣告——而这种教权主义正是本圣道所挑战并意欲根除的；它在诞生之初又被描述为某一可鄙信条的晦暗支流。然而，这信息为不断试炼的江河所滋养、并在阿博都-巴哈温柔关怀的阳光暖意之下，竟成功把根深植于美国那片和煦的土壤；在不到半个世纪之内，它已将枝蔓伸展至地球最遥远的角落；如今，它披戴着在该大陆心脏地带所建立的献堂之威仪，坚定地要宣告其权利，并证明其拯救受创人民的能力。美国信徒团体并无才智、地位与财富所能赋予的任何优势可依；尽管其历史尚浅、人数有限、经验不足，却凭借其行政人员与传导教师所具之受启迪的智慧、同心合一的意志、不可腐蚀的忠诚，在东西方姊妹社区中赢得无可争辩的领导地位，而加速迎来巴哈欧拉所预示的黄金时代。

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然而，这幼小而蒙福的团体，在其多舛的历史中曾经历何等严峻的危机！它从长期无人问津的幽暗里，逐渐走向公众承认的光天化日，其过程何其缓慢而痛苦！它忠诚的信徒队伍，因怯懦者的背离、兴风作浪者的恶意、骄傲与野心者的背叛，而遭受的震荡何其剧烈！它的代表们为维护所皈依之圣道的完整性以及英勇捍卫其清誉而必须面对的讥嘲、辱骂与诽谤风暴又何其汹涌！而它蒙恩的成员——无论老少、无论个人或整体——在那英雄般的努力中，为攀登慈爱之师召唤他们抵达的高峰，所不得不承受的持续变故与令人沮丧的挫折，又是何其频繁！

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它的敌人既多且强；一旦看见其公开拥护者的影响日增，便彼此竞相向它泼洒最卑劣的污名，并把最猛烈的怒火倾倒在它所挚爱之对象身上。他们多少次讥笑它资源之匮乏与生命似乎的停滞！他们又多么刻薄地嘲弄它的起源，并因误解其目的而把它当作一套行将就木之信条的无用附属物而一笔勾销！他们在文字攻讦中，岂不曾把如此神圣启示之先驱的英勇人格污蔑为怯懦的反悔者、堕落的叛教者，并把祂浩瀚著作的全部内容斥为轻率之人的空谈么？他们岂不曾把其神圣创立者的动机诬指为最不择手段的阴谋家与篡夺者所能想象的最卑鄙企图，并把祂圣约的中心描绘成冷酷暴政的化身、挑起祸乱的人、以及权宜与欺诈的著名鼓吹者么？这些无力的敌人屡屡谴责一个不断上升之圣道的世界合一原则“根本有缺”，宣称其包罗万象的方案“荒诞不经”，并把它对未来的远景视为“虚妄而公然欺骗”。他们把构成其教义的根本真理说成是空洞教条的遮羞布；拒绝把它的行政机制与圣道本身的灵魂区分开来；又把它所敬仰并维护的奥秘等同于纯粹迷信。他们把它所倡导并以之自立的合一原则误解为肤浅的整齐划一；把它不断强调超自然力量之真实存在斥为徒然的“魔法信仰”；把其理想主义的荣耀拒绝为乌托邦幻想。至于那不可测度的智慧不时用以净化祂所拣选追随者群体、除去不良与不配之人的一切净化过程，这些被不息嫉妒所驱使的人竟喝彩称其为分裂势力入侵的征兆，声称它们即将削弱其力量、败坏其生命，并完成其毁灭。

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亲爱的朋友们！要我——甚至本世代任何人——去追溯这一不可战胜之臂膀、这一不断推进之圣道的强大神器官，其崛起与逐步巩固的完整而精确的历史，既非我之职责，亦非本世代所能胜任。在其演进仍处早期之时，企图作出穷尽式分析，或对推动它前进、使它在全能之手所打造并仍在完善、用以执行神圣目的之诸多工具中占据如此崇高地位的力量作出公允评估，仍嫌过早。未来这伟大启示的史家——其笔力必远胜当今拥护者所能自许——必将把那些力量的起源作出卓越阐释：正是它们在钟摆般的巨大回摆中，使本圣道的行政中心从其摇篮之地迁移，向着美洲大陆的海岸、乃至其心脏地带汇聚——而那里正是其迅速演进之制度的当下主机与最坚固的堡垒。记录在此缓慢成熟之圣道命运中极其剧烈的转变，并估量其意义，将成为他们的使命；赞颂其美德、使参与成就此转变之男女永垂不朽，将成为他们的机缘；而评估每一位巴哈欧拉世界秩序的建设者在迎来那黄金千年——其应许铭刻于祂教导之中——所作出的贡献，则将成为他们的特权。

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在这巴哈伊纪元的第一个世纪中，我们如今正在见证其开端的奇异现象，岂不也能在原始基督教史与伊斯兰兴起之史中找到动人的对照吗？难道不是：孕育这两大宗教体系的神圣脉冲力，都在其自身不可抗拒的增长所释放之力量推动下，不得不离开诞生地，转而在更为有利的气候中寻找更广阔的田野与更适切的媒介，好使其精神得以成形，其事业得以传播吗？耶路撒冷、安提阿与亚历山大的亚洲教会——主要由倾向同情摩西圣约传统礼仪的犹太归信者组成——在逐渐衰落之际，难道不也被迫承认其希腊与罗马弟兄日益增长的优势吗？他们也不得不承认：正是这些为耶稣基督圣道举旗的旗手们，凭借更卓越的勇气与更训练有素的效率，在一个崩塌帝国的废墟上竖起了祂世界性王权的象征吗？同样，在相似情势的压力下，伊斯兰那激荡人心的精神，不也被迫离开其阿拉伯故土那片不适生长的荒原——那最大的苦难与功勋的舞台——而在遥远之地结出其缓慢成熟文明中最美的果实吗？

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阿博都-巴哈亲自断言：“自太初至今，神圣启示之光总是从东方升起，照耀西方。然而，这光在西方却获得非同寻常的辉煌。请看耶稣所宣告之信仰：虽最初显于东方，但唯当其光照到西方之后，其潜能的全部亮度才得以显明。”祂在另一段话中又向我们保证：“那日正在临近，你们将亲眼见证：藉着巴哈欧拉圣道之光辉，西方将取代东方，放射出神圣指引之光。”祂又说：“先知书中记载了某些喜讯，绝对真实、毫无疑疑。东方向来是‘真理太阳’升起之处；上帝的众先知皆出于东方……西方虽从东方得光，但在某些方面，这光在西方的反照更为强烈。基督教尤其如此：耶稣基督出现在巴勒斯坦，祂的教导在该地奠基。尽管天国之门先在那地开启，上帝的恩赐也自那中心广泛散播，但西方人民比东方人民更充分地接纳并弘扬了基督教。”

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因此，阿博都-巴哈在那次令人难忘的西行之后，从祂那无误之笔中流出以下常被引述的话，也就不足为奇；其意义之重大，我不可能不高估：“美洲大陆，”祂在一篇向美利坚共和国东北诸州信徒揭示其神圣计划的书简中宣布，“在独一真神眼中，是祂光辉将被显露之地，是祂圣道奥秘将被揭露之地，是义人将居住之地，自由者将聚集之地。”当祂身在美国时，人们听见祂说道：“愿这美国的民主，成为第一个奠定国际协意基础的国家。愿它成为第一个宣告人类一体的国家。愿它成为第一个展开‘至大和平’旗帜的国家……美国人民确实堪称领先者，他们会首先竖立至大和平的帐幕，并宣告人类同一……愿美国成为灵性启迪的分发中心，使全世界都领受这天上的祝福。因为美国已经发展出比其他国家更伟大、更奇妙的力量与能力……愿此国居民都如天使一般，面容恒向上帝。愿他们全都成为全能者的仆役。愿他们从现今的物质成就提升到这样一个高度：使天上的光照能从此中心流向世界各族……这美国民族已具装备与能力去完成那将使史册发光、使万邦艳羡之事，并因其人民的胜利而在东方与西方同蒙祝福……美洲大陆显出极大的进步迹象。它的未来更为可观，因为它的影响与光照极为深远。美国将在灵性上引领万国。”

（资料来源：守基 · 埃芬迪著《巴哈欧拉的世界秩序》)

(2026. 01.05)

America and the Most Great Peace

To the beloved of the Lord and the handmaids of the Merciful throughout the United States and Canada.

Friends and fellow-promoters of the Faith of God:

Forty years will have elapsed ere the close of this coming summer since the name of Bahá’u’lláh was first mentioned on the American continent. Strange indeed must appear to every observer, pondering in his heart the significance of so great a landmark in the spiritual history of the great American Republic, the circumstances which have attended this first public reference to the Author of our beloved Faith. Stranger still must seem the associations which the brief words uttered on that historic occasion must have evoked in the minds of those who heard them.

Of pomp and circumstance, of any manifestations of public rejoicing or of popular applause, there were none to greet this first intimation [In an address by Dr. Henry H. Jessup at the Parliament of Religions, Columbian Exposition, Chicago, 1893.–Editor.] to America’s citizens of the existence and purpose of the Revelation

proclaimed by Bahá’u’lláh. Nor did he who was its chosen instrument profess himself a believer in the indwelling potency of the tidings he conveyed, or suspect the magnitude of the forces which so cursory a mention was destined to release.

Announced through the mouth of an avowed supporter of that narrow ecclesiasticism which the Faith itself has challenged and seeks to extirpate, characterized at the moment of its birth as an obscure offshoot of a contemptible creed, the Message of the Most Great Name, fed by streams of unceasing trial and warmed by the sunshine of `Abdu’l-Bahá’s tender care, has succeeded in driving its roots deep into America’s genial soil, has in less than half a century sent out its shoots and tendrils as far as the remotest corners of the globe, and now stands, clothed in the majesty of the consecrated Edifice it has reared in the heart of that continent, determined to proclaim its right and vindicate its capacity to redeem a stricken people. Unsupported by any of the advantages which talent, rank and riches can confer, the community of the American believers, despite its tender age, its numerical strength, its limited experience, has by virtue of the inspired wisdom, the united will, the incorruptible loyalty of its administrators and teachers achieved the distinction of an undisputed leadership among its sister communities of East and West in hastening the advent of the Golden Age anticipated by Bahá’u’lláh.

And yet how grave the crises which this infant, this blessed, community has weathered in the course of its checkered history! How slow and painful the process that gradually brought it forth from the obscurity of unmitigated neglect to the broad daylight of public recognition! How severe the shocks which the ranks of its devoted adherents have sustained through the defection of the faint in heart, the malice of the mischief-maker, the treachery of the proud and the ambitious! What storms of ridicule, of abuse and of calumny its representatives have had to face in their staunch support of the integrity, and their valiant defense of the fair name, of the Faith they had espoused! How persistent the vicissitudes and disconcerting the reverses with which its privileged members, young and old alike, individually and collectively, have had to contend in their heroic endeavors to scale the heights which a loving Master had summoned them to attain!

Many and powerful have been its enemies who, as soon as they discovered the evidences of the growing ascendancy of its declared supporters, have vied with one another in hurling at its face the vilest imputations and in pouring out upon the Object of its devotion the vials of their fiercest wrath. How often have these sneered at the scantiness of its resources and the seeming stagnation of its life! How bitterly they ridiculed its origins and, misconceiving its purpose, dismissed it as a useless appendage of an expiring creed! Have they not in their written attacks stigmatized the heroic person of the Forerunner of so holy a Revelation as a coward recanter, a perverted apostate, and denounced the entire range of His voluminous writings as the idle chatter of a thoughtless man? Have they not chosen to ascribe to its divine Founder the basest motives which an unscrupulous plotter and usurper can conceive, and regarded the Center of His Covenant as the embodiment of ruthless tyranny, a stirrer of mischief, and a notorious exponent of expediency and fraud? Its world-unifying principles these impotent enemies of a steadily-rising Faith have time and again denounced as fundamentally defective, have pronounced its all-embracing program as utterly fantastic, and regarded its vision of the future as chimerical and positively deceitful. The fundamental verities that constitute its doctrine its foolish ill-wishers have represented as a cloak of idle dogma, its administrative machinery they have refused to differentiate from the soul of the Faith itself, and the mysteries it reveres and upholds they have identified with sheer superstition. The principle of unification which it advocates and with which it stands identified they have misconceived as a shallow attempt at uniformity, its repeated assertions of the reality of supernatural agencies they have condemned as a vain belief in magic, and the glory of its idealism they have rejected as mere utopia. Every process of purification whereby an inscrutable Wisdom chose from time to time to purge the body of His chosen followers of the defilement of the undesirable and the unworthy, these victims of an unrelenting jealousy have hailed as a symptom of the invading forces of schism which were soon to sap its strength, vitiate its vitality, and complete its ruin.

Dearly-beloved friends! It is not for me, nor does it seem within the competence of any one of the present generation, to trace the exact and full history of the rise and gradual consolidation of this invincible arm, this mighty organ, of a continually advancing Cause. It would be premature at this early stage of its evolution, to attempt an exhaustive analysis, or to arrive at a just estimate, of the impelling forces that have urged it forward to occupy so exalted a place among the various instruments which the Hand of Omnipotence has fashioned, and is now perfecting, for the execution of His divine Purpose. Future historians of this mighty Revelation, endowed with pens abler than any which its present-day supporters can claim to possess, will no doubt transmit to posterity a masterly exposition of the origins of those forces which, through a remarkable swing of the pendulum, have caused the administrative center of the Faith to gravitate, away from its cradle, to the shores of the American continent and towards its very heart–the present mainspring and chief bulwark of its fast evolving institutions. On them will devolve the task of recording the history, and of estimating the significance, of so radical a revolution in the fortunes of a slowly maturing Faith. Theirs will be the opportunity to extol the virtues and to immortalize the memory of those men and women who have participated in its accomplishment. Theirs will be the privilege of evaluating the share which each of these champion-builders of the World Order of Bahá’u’lláh has had in ushering in that golden Millennium, the promise of which lies enshrined in His teachings.

Does not the history of primitive Christianity and of the rise of Islám, each in its own way, offer a striking parallel to this strange phenomenon the beginnings of which we are now witnessing in this, the first century of the Bahá’í Era? Has not the Divine Impulse which gave birth to each of these great religious systems been driven, through the operation of those forces which the irresistible growth of the Faith itself had released, to seek away from the land of its birth and in more propitious climes a ready field and a more adequate medium for the incarnation of its spirit and the propagation of its cause? Have not the Asiatic churches of Jerusalem, of Antioch and of Alexandria, consisting chiefly of those Jewish converts, whose character and temperament inclined them to sympathize with the traditional ceremonies of the Mosaic Dispensation, been forced as they steadily declined to recognize the growing ascendancy of their Greek and Roman brethren? Have they not been compelled to acknowledge the superior valor and the trained efficiency which have enabled these standard-bearers of the Cause of Jesus Christ to erect the symbols of His world-wide dominion on the ruins of a collapsing Empire? Has not the animating spirit of Islám been constrained, under the pressure of similar circumstances, to abandon the inhospitable wastes of its Arabian Home, the theatre of its greatest sufferings and exploits, to yield in a distant land the fairest fruit of its slowly maturing civilization?

“From the beginning of time until the present day,” `Abdu’l-Bahá Himself affirms, “the light of Divine Revelation hath risen in the East and shed its radiance upon the West. The illumination thus shed hath, however, acquired in the West an extraordinary brilliancy. Consider the Faith proclaimed by Jesus. Though it first appeared in the East, yet not until its light had been shed upon the West did the full measure of its potentialities become manifest.” “The day is approaching,” He, in another passage, assures us, “when ye shall witness how, through the splendor of the Faith of Bahá’u’lláh, the West will have replaced the East, radiating the light of Divine Guidance.” “In the books of the Prophets,” He again asserts, “certain glad-tidings are recorded which are absolutely true and free from doubt. The East hath ever been the dawning-place of the Sun of Truth. In the East all the Prophets of God have appeared …The West hath acquired illumination from the East but in some respects the reflection of the light hath been greater in the Occident. This is specially true of Christianity. Jesus Christ appeared in Palestine and His teachings were founded in that country. Although the doors of the Kingdom were first opened in that land and the bestowals of God were spread broadcast from its center, the people of the West have embraced and promulgated Christianity more fully than the people of the East.”

Little wonder that from the same unerring pen there should have flowed, after `Abdu’l-Bahá’s memorable visit to the West, these often-quoted words, the significance of which it would be impossible for me to overrate: “The continent of America,” He announced in a Tablet unveiling His Divine Plan to the believers residing in the North-Eastern States of the American Republic, “is in the eyes of the one true God the land wherein the splendors of His light shall be revealed, where the mysteries of His Faith shall be unveiled, where the righteous will abide and the free assemble.” “May this American democracy,” He Himself, while in America, was heard to remark, “be the first nation to establish the foundation of international agreement. May it be the first nation to proclaim the unity of mankind. May it be the first to unfurl the standard of the `Most Great Peace’… The American people are indeed worthy of being the first to build the tabernacle of the great peace and proclaim the oneness of mankind… May America become the distributing center of spiritual enlightenment and all the world receive this heavenly blessing. For America has developed powers and capacities greater and more wonderful than other nations… May the inhabitants of this country become like angels of heaven with faces turned continually toward God. May all of them become servants of the omnipotent One. May they rise from their present material attainments to such a height that heavenly illumination may stream from this center to all the peoples of the world… This American nation is equipped and empowered to accomplish that which will adorn the pages of history, to become the envy of the world and be blest in both the East and the West for the triumph of its people… The American continent gives signs and evidences of very great advancement. Its future is even more promising, for its influence and illumination are far-reaching. It will lead all nations spiritually.”

<“The World Order of Bahaullah” by Shoughi Effendi>

(05/01/2026)