We all have a right to our opinions, we are bound to think differently; but a Bahá’í must accept the majority decision of his Assembly, realizing that acceptance and harmony—even if a mistake has been made—are the really important things, and when we serve the Cause properly, in the Bahá’í way, God will right any wrongs done in the end. Bahá’ís are not required to vote on an Assembly against their consciences. It is better if they submit to the majority view and make it unanimous. But they are not forced to. What they must do, however, is to abide by the majority decision, as this is what becomes effective. They must not go around undermining the Assembly by saying they disagreed with the majority. In other words, they must put the Cause first and not their own opinions. He (a Spiritual Assembly member) can ask the Assembly to reconsider a matter, but he has no right to force them or create in harmony because they won’t change. Unanimous votes are preferable, but certainly cannot be forced upon Assembly members by artificial methods such as are used by other societies. — Shoghi Effendi [1]
Question for Consideration
Summarize what a paper with the title, “Conversations That Matter: A Protagonist’s Guide to Consultation Based on Bahá’í Principles” might cover as a starting point for further development. [2] [3]
Gemini Notebook Response:
This guide outlines a structured approach to group decision-making based on the Bahá’í principles of consultation. It provides a comprehensive framework for facilitators to transition meetings from competitive debates toward a collective search for truth. The document details specific preparatory steps, meeting agendas, and communication techniques designed to foster an atmosphere of mutual respect and detachment from personal ego. By prioritizing unity of purpose and inclusive dialogue, the text ensures that every participant feels empowered to speak freely while remaining committed to the final group outcome. Ultimately, the source serves as a practical manual for achieving harmony and effective action within diverse community settings.
Be the Voice of…
In a video interview with @IranIntl, @vesaghsanaei, spokesperson for the Baha'i International Community, spoke out about the intensifying pressure on Baha'is in Iran following searches of several Baha'i homes in Shiraz and the summoning of five citizens to a Ministry of… pic.twitter.com/1rcwHC4K6a
— Bahá'í International Community – Human Rights (@BahaiBIC_Rights) September 24, 2026
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. [4]
Footnotes
[1] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/969654881
You have pointed out that on consultative bodies it may sometimes happen that in a given case the view of one of the members is better and has greater merit than that of the others, but these members are not prepared to accept such a view. The Guardian stated that it is necessary and imperative to consult frankly and with pure motives before arriving at a decision. Once the decision is taken, it is incumbent upon all to follow the majority view, and to enforce and put it into effect, even if the decision is a wrong one. — Shoghi Effendi [1]
Question for Consideration
Build a practical facilitator’s guide for conducting ‘conversations that matter’ based on the Bahá’í principles of consultation. Include a structured meeting agenda, specific guidelines for fostering an atmosphere of love and harmony, techniques for maintaining detachment from personal opinions, and a list of common barriers to consensus to watch for in diverse community settings. Format the guide as a checklist and include tips for balancing absolute freedom of expression with the need for unity and the collective search for truth. [2] [3]
Perplexity Computer Response:
Perplexity Computer drafted “Conversations That Matter: A Facilitator’s Checklist”. The main idea running through it is that the group needs to agree on its purpose, not on its opinions. People speak with complete freedom while they discuss, and then everyone backs the decision once it’s made. Every quotation is taken directly from the official texts, mainly CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. [4]
The guide has eight parts:
Core principles: five ideas to keep in front of the group. One example: “The shining spark of truth cometh forth only after the clash of differing opinions.”
Preparation: writing the question as an open inquiry, gathering the facts, making sure everyone is included, and checking your own bias as facilitator.
A 90-minute agenda in 11 phases: it opens with a reflective moment and moves through facts, then shared principles, then open discussion and pulling the views together. It ends with a decision, action items and an appreciation round. There’s also a checklist for the moment of decision.
Love and harmony: group agreements to read aloud at each meeting, things the facilitator can do, and warning signs that the mood is slipping.
Detachment: habits for participants, like “offer it, then release it” and saying a point once. For facilitators, it covers structures such as anonymous idea cards, stating the other side’s best case, and leaving names off the flip chart.
Barriers to consensus: about 20 problems grouped as personal, cultural, process and emotional, each with a quick fix. Examples include deferring to status or age, different norms about direct disagreement, and rushing to a decision.
Balancing freedom and unity: tips on protecting honest speech, unity and the search for truth, plus ready-to-use wording for seven hard moments.
Follow-up: what to do after the meeting and questions for facilitators to ask themselves, followed by a one-page quick reference.
For mixed or non-Bahá’í groups, the guide suggests a moment of silence or a shared reflection wherever prayer would normally open or close the meeting.
— Bahá'í International Community – Human Rights (@BahaiBIC_Rights) September 23, 2026
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. [5]
Footnotes
[1] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/621058145
[3] Transformative Leadership Education Staff. “Unite, Decide, Thrive: Using Consultation to Improve Decisions” (Free Online Course). Transformative Leadership Education. https://tinyurl.com/courseconsultation
[4] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/249611345
The questions you ask in your letter about individual guidance have two aspects, one might say. It is good that people should turn to God and beseech His aid in solving their problems and guiding their acts, indeed every day of their lives, if they feel the desire to do so. But they cannot possibly impose what they feel to be their guidance on anyone else, let alone on Assemblies or Committees, as Bahá’u’lláh has expressly laid down the law of consultation and never indicated that anything else superseded it. — Shoghi Effendi [1]
Question for Consideration
Bahá’í consultation is a means of communication and decision-making that promotes a culture of learning and adaptation among individuals, communities, and institutions throughout interwoven social systems worldwide. As such, it is an ongoing, iterative, and scalable process that draws boundless energy from the inclusion, interconnection, and acknowledgement of all members of the global human family. Given this context, what values, qualities, and skills characterize participants in Bahá’í consultation as they convene “conversations that matter,” seek “ways that work,” and adopt “changes that sustain”? [2] [3]
Perplexity Computer Response:
Bahá’í consultation calls participants to combine spiritual character with disciplined collective inquiry. It is not principally a technique for winning agreement or defending a position; it is a way of searching together for truth, building unity in diversity, learning from action, and revising course when experience indicates the need.
Core orientation
Participants enter consultation as co-servants of a shared purpose rather than as advocates for personal, factional, or institutional interests. The central moral orientation is toward the welfare of the whole—local community, society, and ultimately the human family.
This requires:
Purity of motive and service: A willingness to subordinate personal advantage, status, likes and dislikes, and preferred outcomes to the common good.
Unity with diversity: Difference is not treated as a threat or a contest to be eliminated. Diverse experience, social location, expertise, and insight enlarge the group’s capacity to understand reality.
Justice and impartiality: Participants attend not only to efficiency or majority preference, but to who is affected, whose voice is absent, how burdens and benefits are distributed, and what accords with moral principle.
Recognition of human nobility: Each person is regarded as possessing reason, conscience, dignity, and a capacity to contribute—not merely as a representative of a constituency, problem, or deficit category. [4]
Qualities of character
Several interdependent qualities enable consultation to become a “conversation that matters” rather than an exchange of competing assertions:
Quality
What it looks like in consultation
Why it matters
Prayerfulness
Beginning from inward reflection, receptivity, and a desire for assistance beyond one’s own certainty
Helps shift the gathering from ego-centered argument to a shared search for wisdom
Humility
Recognizing the limits of one’s knowledge; being ready to learn, revise, and credit others
Makes honest inquiry possible
Detachment
Releasing ownership of one’s idea after offering it; accepting that it may be changed, combined, postponed, or set aside
Turns proposals into shared resources rather than personal possessions
Sincerity
Speaking truthfully and plainly, without manipulation, posturing, or concealed agendas
Builds the trust on which candour depends
Love and courtesy
Treating each contributor with dignity, even amid strong disagreement
Protects unity and keeps difference productive
Patience and forbearance
Staying constructive when clarity or agreement takes time; deferring a discussion when disputation overtakes inquiry
Allows insight and relationships to mature
Courage
Naming relevant facts, injustices, risks, and unpopular considerations with tact and frankness
Prevents superficial peace or conformity
Justice and fair-mindedness
Weighing each contribution on its merits; actively making room for excluded or quieter perspectives
Broadens the group’s intelligence and legitimacy
Trustworthiness
Keeping confidences where required, accurately representing others’ views, and following through on commitments
Enables durable cooperation and institutional confidence
Selflessness
Asking, “What best serves the whole?” rather than, “Which outcome vindicates me?”
Reorients authority and influence toward service
Authoritative Bahá’í guidance describes consultation as requiring “utmost love, sincerity, and unity,” a prayerful attitude, free expression, surrender of attachment to individual opinions, careful consideration of others’ views, and an effort toward consensus. It specifically identifies prayerfulness, humility, detachment, and patience as formative participant attitudes. [5]
Skills for meaningful conversation
Character becomes effective through learned practices. Bahá’í consultation therefore entails capacities that can be developed at every scale—from a family, study circle, or neighborhood initiative to an institution working across a region or the world.
Listen to understand, not merely to reply. Hear the experience, evidence, concern, and principle beneath another person’s words. Check whether one has understood before evaluating.
Express views freely and courteously. Offer a perspective clearly enough for the group to examine it, while avoiding accusation, sarcasm, pressure, or rhetorical domination.
Distinguish people from ideas. Once expressed, an idea belongs to the group. It can be adopted, refined, tested, or discarded without devaluing the person who raised it.
Ask questions of inquiry. Replace adversarial questions—“How can you believe that?”—with questions that enlarge understanding: “What evidence are we seeing?” “Who may be affected?” “What principle is at stake?”
Gather relevant experience and evidence. Consultation is neither mere opinion-sharing nor abstract idealism. It asks participants to investigate reality, identify patterns, and integrate local knowledge with sound information.
Draw in missing voices. Deliberately seek contributions from people whose experience is often discounted, including minorities and those directly affected by a decision. Diversity is treated as an intellectual and moral resource.
Move from claims to principles. Instead of bargaining among interests alone, identify relevant principles—such as justice, equality, environmental stewardship, freedom from prejudice, or collective well-being—and use them to illuminate choices.
Build ideas collaboratively. Participants connect, improve, and combine proposals rather than treating every contribution as an all-or-nothing position.
Seek consensus without coercion. Consensus is desirable because it reflects a shared understanding, but it is not manufactured through silence or pressure. When agreement cannot be reached, a decision can still be made and then supported in unity.
Practice disciplined follow-through. Consultation is incomplete without coordinated action. Participants translate a decision into clear responsibilities, resources, timing, and learning questions.
The Bahá’í International Community characterizes the process as free yet dignified and courteous expression, with detachment from positions so that each idea becomes a group resource. It also emphasizes actively soliciting perspectives from those traditionally excluded from decision-making. [4]
Ways that work
In this approach, a decision is not the end point. It is a provisional act of collective responsibility—one that should be carried out energetically, observed honestly, and refined in light of results.
A productive learning cycle looks like this:
Consult: Define the question, surface facts and experience, identify relevant principles, and consider diverse views.
Decide: Seek consensus; if it proves unattainable, arrive at a decision through the appropriate collective process without allowing disagreement to become division.
Act in unity: Those who held a different view support the decision in practice. This does not require pretending the earlier disagreement never existed; it means giving the collective effort a fair test.
Reflect on reality: Examine what happened, including unintended effects, voices still unheard, and evidence that challenges assumptions.
Adjust: Retain, modify, or replace the decision without blame or embarrassment when learning warrants it.
This is the practical meaning of an adaptive culture: a mistaken decision need not generate fault-finding, defensiveness, or factional victory. If experience shows that it was inadequate, the group learns together and revises it. [4]
Illustration
Suppose a neighborhood group is deciding how to improve participation in a youth program. A debate-oriented process might pit “more advertising” against “better activities,” with participants defending their preferred solution.
A consultative process would instead ask:
Which young people currently participate, and which do not?
What have youth, parents, and facilitators observed?
What obstacles involve transport, cost, safety, schedule, belonging, or relevance?
Are some groups not being heard?
What principles should guide us—equity, safety, joy, service, inclusion?
What small, testable action can we take over the next period?
What evidence will tell us whether it is working?
The result may be a modest pilot—perhaps youth co-design, changed meeting times, transportation support, and personal invitations—followed by reflection and adaptation. The group values learning and solidarity as highly as arriving at an initial answer.
Changes that sustain
For consultation to sustain change across interwoven social systems, participants need habits that bind values to institutions and action:
A learning posture: Treat plans and decisions as hypotheses to be tested against experience, not as proofs of individual competence.
Shared ownership: Regard outcomes, including failures, as collective responsibilities rather than opportunities to assign blame.
Mutual accountability: Be transparent about intentions, constraints, actions, and results; revise decisions when evidence warrants it.
Balance of initiative and coordination: Encourage individual creativity and local action while maintaining coherent collective direction.
Respect for legitimate process: Once a decision is made, unity in implementation gives the group a basis for genuine learning.
Long-term stewardship: Consider effects on relationships, institutions, social trust, and future generations—not merely short-term gains.
Resistance to domination: Avoid confrontation, the imposition of plans, power-seeking, and the reduction of deliberation to partisan competition.
Bahá’í sources present consultation as a means for harmonizing viewpoints, strengthening trust and love between individuals and institutions, integrating diverse perspectives, preserving focus in systematic action, and generating new insight into complex issues. In this sense, the participants’ most important contribution is not simply a well-argued opinion. It is the cultivation of a shared capacity to learn truthfully, decide justly, act unitedly, and adapt faithfully. [5]
Be the Voice of…
Three Young Bahá’ís Arrested in Shiraz and Transferred to an Unknown Location
On 14 September 2026, three Bahá’ís from Shiraz, Ms. Sarina Zaeri, 20, Mr. Barbod Sepehri, 21, and Mr. Arshia Jaberi, 19, were arrested by security agents and taken to an unknown location.
— Bahá'í International Community – Human Rights (@BahaiBIC_Rights) September 21, 2026
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. [6]
Footnotes
[1] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/086045281
We are often told by the Master that under such circumstances we should consult our friends, especially the Assemblies, and seek their advice. It would be nice if you should follow that advice and take some of the friends into your confidence. Maybe God’s will is best attained through consultation. — Shoghi Effendi [1]
Question for Consideration
How do Baháʼís use consultation as a social change management practice to convene “conversations that matter,” seek “ways that work,” and adopt “changes that sustain” among protagonists of social change— individuals, communities, and institutions—as they apply the spiritual principles of oneness and service and appeal to guidance from Baháʼí writings and institutions in an ever-evolving material world? [2] [3]
Perplexity Computer Response:
Bahá’ís use consultation not chiefly as a meeting technique, but as a disciplined, spiritual-and-practical learning process for collective change. It aims to replace adversarial bargaining, personal attachment, and factionalism with a shared search for truth, unity of action, and ongoing adaptation—so that individuals, communities, and institutions can become mutually reinforcing protagonists of social progress. [4] [5]
The underlying social vision
The Bahá’í approach begins with two connected convictions:
Oneness of humankind: social problems are treated as problems of a single interdependent human family, not as contests among permanently opposed interests. This changes the purpose of dialogue from winning, compromise, or protecting constituencies to discovering what serves the whole.
Service: participants are encouraged to understand their knowledge, skills, authority, and resources as capacities to contribute to the common good, rather than instruments of status, control, or self-advancement.
In this view, material advancement alone is insufficient. Social change must seek a dynamic coherence between material conditions—such as education, health, livelihoods, organizational capability, and public services—and spiritual qualities such as justice, trustworthiness, cooperation, generosity, and respect for human dignity. The Bahá’í framework explicitly treats scientific inquiry and spiritual insight as complementary sources of knowledge: evidence and testing are essential, while moral purpose helps ensure that knowledge and technology serve human well-being rather than narrow interests. [5]
This makes consultation a form of social change management: a way to coordinate action across a changing environment without presuming that any group already possesses a complete solution.
Convening conversations that matter
A Bahá’í consultative space is designed to be candid without becoming combative. Participants are asked to approach it prayerfully, with sincerity, love, humility, detachment from personal opinion, and fair-minded attention to others’ perspectives. The intention is not unanimity at any cost, nor a polite suppression of disagreement. It is to surface reality—including difficult facts, divergent experience, and minority insight—without turning the discussion into a struggle for dominance. [4]
Several practices turn that aspiration into a workable conversation:
Begin from a shared purpose. The group identifies the welfare of the population or community—not victory for an individual, party, or interest group—as the reference point.
Gather diverse knowledge. Those closest to a problem, people with technical expertise, and people affected by the decision all have knowledge relevant to understanding reality.
Treat proposals as collective property. Once an idea is offered, it is no longer “owned” by its author. Others may improve, revise, combine, or set it aside without this becoming a personal rejection.
Speak frankly and listen courteously. The method calls for freedom of expression coupled with dignity, moderation, and a sincere interest in views that differ from one’s own.
Separate people from positions. Participants work to relinquish attachment to their preferred solution, allowing evidence, principle, and group insight to reshape their view.
Pause if discussion becomes contentious. If consultation degenerates into dispute, it can be deferred rather than forcing a decision in an atmosphere that destroys trust.
The result is what might be called a “conversation that matters”: one in which a community can confront an actual condition—youth disengagement, local food insecurity, schooling, isolation, prejudice, or environmental strain—while preserving the relationships required to address it over time. Bahá’í sources describe consultation as helping harmonize viewpoints, strengthen trust and love between individuals and institutions, bring fresh insight to complex matters, and integrate diverse perspectives into a more adequate understanding of the problem. [4]
Seeking ways that work
Bahá’í consultation is inseparable from action. It does not end with a statement of values or an ideal plan; it translates a collective understanding into a modest, testable line of action and then learns from results.
The operational cycle is:
Study → Consultation → Action → Reflection → Adjustment
The Universal House of Justice describes this as a mode of “learning in action,” characterized by continuing action, reflection, consultation, and study. Visions and strategies are repeatedly re-examined; obstacles and results generate lessons; goals and methods are modified while continuity of purpose is maintained. [5]
This has several implications for change practice:
Change management question
Bahá’í consultative response
What is really happening?
Investigate the local social reality from multiple perspectives; distinguish fact, assumption, experience, and principle
Who decides?
Individuals contribute initiative and knowledge; communities develop collective will; institutions provide moral authority, coordination, continuity, and guidance
How is disagreement handled?
Through candid, respectful inquiry aimed at truth and unity—not adversarial negotiation or ideological contest
How are plans chosen?
Form a practical course of action proportionate to available capacity, resources, and evidence
What happens when a plan fails?
Reflect without blame, identify lessons, revise the method, and try again
How does learning spread?
Record patterns of experience, exchange learning across local, regional, national, and international structures, and adapt insights to context
The preferred scale is generally modest at first. Rather than importing a fully designed program or treating people as clients of an expert solution, Bahá’í social action aims to increase the capacity of local people to participate in generating, applying, and sharing knowledge. An initiative may be as simple as a neighborhood effort of limited duration, or it may mature into a more complex educational, health, agricultural, or development organization—but its complexity should remain commensurate with the human resources and collective ownership available to sustain it. [5]
For example, if parents and youth identify weak educational support as a local concern, consultation might lead first to a small, regular study space or children’s educational activity. Reflection may reveal barriers such as transport, family schedules, insufficient tutors, or curriculum gaps. The group then adapts. If the effort proves valuable and more people gain capacity, it can become more systematic; if it does not, the lesson is retained and the activity is altered or concluded. Success is not measured only by whether the original project survives, but by whether people gain greater ability to read their reality, collaborate, serve, and respond intelligently to future needs.
Adopting changes that sustain
A distinctive feature of this approach is that sustainability is not equated with preserving every program, maximizing scale, or maintaining a fixed plan. It means building enduring capacities and relationships that permit a community to respond coherently to changing circumstances.
Bahá’í guidance warns against haphazard change while also rejecting rigid adherence to theory or to an initiative merely because it already exists. Some efforts properly end when their purpose has been achieved; others develop into lasting undertakings through continued cycles of consultation, action, and reflection. Growth is meant to be organic, evidence-informed, and free from pressure to expand for its own sake. [5]
Sustaining change therefore depends on several forms of capacity:
Individual capacity: spiritual qualities, practical skills, knowledge, initiative, and the ability to accompany others in service.
Community capacity: habits of participation, mutual aid, collective reflection, unity in diversity, trust, and the ability to resist destructive social forces.
Institutional capacity: the ability to consult, encourage, coordinate, safeguard integrity, allocate resources, maintain continuity, and link local experience with wider learning.
The three are not separate tracks. The Bahá’í framework holds that durable social transformation requires reciprocal development: inner transformation affects the social environment, and social conditions affect people’s inner lives. Thus, an institution cannot simply prescribe change; individuals cannot sustainably carry every burden alone; and a community cannot flourish without structures that coordinate collective will and protect its learning process. [5]
In formal Bahá’í administration, elected Local and National Spiritual Assemblies use consultation for collective decisions. In wider community life, consultation occurs with varying levels of formality: in families, project teams, communities, among institutions, and between institutions and the populations they serve. The point is not bureaucratic control, but an expanding culture in which authority, individual initiative, and communal participation become complementary rather than competitive. [4]
Guidance in an evolving world
Bahá’ís appeal to the writings of Bahá’u’lláh, ‘Abdu’l‑Bahá, Shoghi Effendi, and the Universal House of Justice for enduring principles and for guidance about collective life. Yet this appeal does not imply a static social blueprint. Bahá’í guidance presents basic convictions—human oneness, justice, equality, service, consultation, the harmony of science and religion—as enduring, while recognizing that their application and expression must evolve with circumstances and accumulated experience. [5]
That creates a productive tension:
Principles offer continuity, ethical boundaries, and a common language across places and generations.
Consultation enables contextual judgment where no fixed technical prescription is given.
Evidence and experience keep action responsive to actual conditions.
Institutions help preserve coherence, protect the integrity of learning, and connect grassroots insight to wider bodies of knowledge.
Repeated reflection prevents either tradition or innovation from becoming dogma.
In short, Bahá’í consultation seeks to make social change less a sequence of imposed reforms and more a sustained process of collective maturation. It convenes meaningful conversations by cultivating unity and truth-seeking; finds workable approaches by coupling consultation with disciplined experimentation; and sustains change by building the moral, relational, practical, and institutional capacities through which people can continually learn together. [4] [5]
Be the Voice of…
Saba Sefidi Arrested in Tehran and Transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin
On Thursday, 10 September 2026, Ms. Saba Sefidi, a Baha'i resident of Tehran, was arrested by security agents and transferred to Qarchak Prison in Varamin to begin serving her prison sentence.
— Bahá'í International Community – Human Rights (@BahaiBIC_Rights) September 14, 2026
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. [6]
Footnotes
[1] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/295356511
Concerning the attendance of certain individuals at the meeting of the Assemblies and at the invitation of that body: This Shoghi Effendi considers to be as expert advice, which is absolutely necessary for good administration. The members of the Assembly are not supposed to know everything on every subject, so they can invite a person, versed in that question, to attend their meetings and explain his views. But naturally he will have no right to vote. — Shoghi Effendi [1]
Question for Consideration
How does the Baháʼí consultation process keep participants grounded in the spiritual principle of oneness during the three stages—”understanding the situation”, “deciding what to do”, and “executing the decision”—while following a change management framework for convening “conversations that matter”, seeking “ways that work”, and adopting “changes that sustain”? [2] [3]
Google Notebook Response:
The Baháʼí consultation process maintains grounding in the spiritual reality of oneness—one Creator, one Creation, and one human family [4] —through each of its three core stages, aligning with a change management framework of “conversations that matter”, “ways that work”, and “changes that sustain”. [5]
Stage 1: Understanding the Situation ↔ Convening “Conversations That Matter”
In the initial stage, consultation focuses on investigating reality, establishing empirical facts, and identifying guiding spiritual or moral principles before formulating solutions. [6]
Grounding in Oneness
One Creator: Deliberations open with prayer and devotional reflection to turn participants toward the “Kingdom on High”. [4] This spiritual reorientation aligns individual motives around divine guidance, quelling ego, personal ambition, and hidden agendas. [4]
One Human Family: Rooted in the inherent nobility of every soul, [7] [8] the group seeks a wide diversity of views—including input from technical experts and those traditionally excluded [7] —ensuring that rank, worldly status, or prejudice never dominate. [4]
One Creation: Recognizing that reality is indivisible, [9] participants view differing perspectives not as hostile forces, but as complementary angles on truth. [7] [9] Differing opinions interact like “flint and steel” to yield the “spark of truth” without disrupting fellowship. [4]
Change Management Alignment
This stage creates expansive “conversations that matter” by establishing non-personalization: once an idea is voiced, it ceases to belong to the speaker and becomes the collective property of the group. [10] Because opinions are detached from personal ownership, participants can freely examine, modify, or set proposals aside without causing personal offense, defensiveness, or zero-sum bargaining. [11]
Stage 2: Deciding What to Do ↔ Seeking “Ways That Work”
The second stage transforms shared understanding into a clear, agreed-upon course of action by weighing options and reaching a decision. [6] [12]
Grounding in Oneness
Detachment and Humility: Members practice detachment from their initial proposals, [4] eagerly accepting a more worthy idea the moment it emerges rather than defending their own out of pride. [13]
Unity Over Division: The group strives for unanimous consensus. [10] If unanimity is not reached, a majority vote determines the choice. [4] To preserve community oneness, all members immediately embrace the majority decision as their own, forbidding “minority reports,” opposition factions, or recorded dissension. [10]
Change Management Alignment
This stage focuses on identifying “ways that work” by treating decisions as provisional hypotheses or line of action to be tested in practice. [14] Decision-making is integrated into an ongoing cycle of action, reflection, consultation, and study. [14] [15]
3. Stage 3: Executing the Decision ↔ Adopting “Changes That Sustain”
The final stage entails carrying out the decision with complete solidarity, followed by collective reflection on the outcomes. [6]
Grounding in Oneness
One Organic Body: Treating the community as an organic body where every part depends on the health of the whole, [16] every member supports the implementation with full unity of action. [10]
Collective Responsibility: Post-decision criticism, censure, or backbiting is strictly prohibited, as it prevents decisions from being enforced. [4] Wholehearted support ensures that if a project fails, the problem lies in the idea itself rather than a lack of collective commitment. [10]
Change Management Alignment
This stage drives the widespread adoption of “changes that sustain”. [17] By acting in unity, the group can accurately evaluate real-world results. [16] [18] If experience shows a decision was mistaken, the oneness of the group allows members to re-consult, adjust the plan, and correct course without recrimination, turning experience into collective learning. [16]
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. [19]
Footnotes
[1] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/248744031
[5] Universal House of Justice. “29 December 2015 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/275100978
[9] Ewing, Sovaida Ma’ani. “Bahá’í Consultation as an Expression of Justice.” Baháʼí Faith Modern Perspectives (YouTube), December 7, 2024. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ5HxZy-b6Q
[15] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. THE NATIONAL SPIRITUAL ASSEMBLY. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/419079542
[17] Universal House of Justice. “28 December 2010 – To the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors.” Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/242741298
Consultation, frank and unfettered, is the bedrock of this unique Order…. — Shoghi Effendi [1]
Question for Consideration
How do the three core stages of the Bahá’í consultation process for collective decision-making and truth-seeking relate to the dynamic phases of a change management model: expansive “conversations that matter”, prolific experimentation to develop “ways that work”, and widespread adoption of “changes that sustain”? [2] [3]
Google Notebook Response:
The three core stages of Bahá’í consultation—Understanding the situation, Deciding what to do, and Executing the decision [4] —map directly onto the dynamic phases of modern change management:
1. Understanding the Situation ↔ Expansive “Conversations That Matter”
Before jumping to solutions, the first stage of Bahá’í consultation focuses on establishing facts, clarifying the question, and identifying relevant spiritual or moral principles.
Investigating Reality: This phase aligns with expansive “conversations that matter” by prioritizing open, candid, and inclusive exploration. [5] Rather than engaging in debate or partisan negotiation, participants gather empirical facts, consult specialists when needed, and elevate the dialogue to understand the underlying reality. [5]
Detachment and Non-Personalization: To make these conversations truly expansive and safe, any idea offered immediately becomes the collective property of the group. [6] Because opinions are detached from personal ego, participants can freely explore diverse perspectives without fear of personal conflict, defensiveness, or ideological entrenchment. [6]
2. Deciding What to Do ↔ Prolific Experimentation to Develop “Ways That Work”
The second stage involves weighing options, synthesizing perspectives, and reaching a clear, unified decision—ideally through unanimity, or by majority vote when necessary. [4]
Provisional Decision-Making: In Bahá’í consultative frameworks, decision-making is not viewed as a rigid or static dictate, but as formulating a hypothesis or line of action to be tested in practice. [7]
Learning in Action: This directly connects to prolific experimentation (“ways that work”). Groups identify promising courses of action, pilot projects, or small-scale experiments, recognizing that complex social realities require learning through action, reflection, and adjustment rather than assuming immediate perfection. [7]
3. Executing the Decision ↔ Widespread Adoption of “Changes That Sustain”
The final stage is carrying out the decision through wholehearted, concerted effort, followed by collective reflection on the outcomes. 4
Unity of Action: For any change to become sustainable, execution requires complete unity of action. [8] [9] Even participants who originally favored a different option support the chosen decision wholeheartedly. [6] This ensures that if a project succeeds or fails, the outcome reflects the validity of the idea itself rather than a lack of collective commitment or internal opposition. [9]
Reflecting and Institutionalizing Learning: After implementation, the group evaluates the results in a spirit of continuous learning. Successful experiments (“ways that work”) are refined and integrated into widespread, enduring patterns of community life and social transformation, while unsuccessful approaches are adjusted without recrimination. [7]
Be the Voice of…
Austrian MP Dr. Gudrun Kugler calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all Baha'is and other unjustly imprisoned prisoners of conscience in Iran.
Peyvand and Borna Naimi have been arbitrarily detained since January and March 2026, respectively.
— Bahá'í International Community – Human Rights (@BahaiBIC_Rights) September 11, 2026
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. [10]
Footnotes
[1] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/342126683
The purpose of consultation is to show that the views of several individuals are assuredly preferable to one man, even as the power of a number of men is of course greater than the power of one man. Thus consultation is acceptable in the presence of the Almighty, and hath been enjoined upon the believers, so that they may confer upon ordinary and personal matters, as well as on affairs which are general in nature and universal.
For instance, when a man hath a project to accomplish, should he consult with some of his brethren, that which is agreeable will of course be investigated and unveiled to his eyes, and the truth will be disclosed. Likewise on a higher level, should the people of a village consult one another about their affairs, the right solution will certainly be revealed. In like manner, the members of each profession, such as in industry, should consult, and those in commerce should similarly consult on business affairs. In short, consultation is desirable and acceptable in all things and on all issues.— ‘Abdu’l-Bahá [1]
Question for Consideration
Given that the most seemingly mundane, pedestrian exchange is potentially consultative and an opportunity to be there for one another, what conversations, if any, would warrant behaviors different from those outlined by the guidelines and qualities for effective Bahá’í consultation? [2] [3]
Perplexity Computer Response:
The ordinary virtues of Bahá’í consultation—love, courtesy, truthfulness, humility, detachment from one’s own view, attentive listening, and a sincere wish for another’s good—are broadly applicable to nearly every exchange. What changes is not the moral foundation, but the form, boundaries, pace, and purpose of the conversation.
In other words: most conversations can be consultative in spirit, but not every conversation should be conducted as a full consultative process aimed at a shared decision or consensus.
A useful distinction
Bahá’í consultation is especially suited to collective investigation of reality and to deciding on action for a shared concern. Its distinctive features include frank but courteous expression, freedom from argument and imposition, detachment from personal opinions, and—where a group has authority—moving toward a decision that members support in action. [4] [5]
A pedestrian encounter—“How are you?” “Could you help me carry this?” “What do you think of this book?”—may embody these qualities without needing formal elements such as a defined question, a systematic exploration of facts, or a decision.
The key question is:
Is this a conversation in which people are jointly seeking truth or deciding a shared course of action—or is another human need primary?
Where another need is primary, the consultative virtues remain, but certain typical consultation behaviors may be inappropriate or insufficient.
Conversations that call for a different emphasis
Kind of conversation
What should change
Why
Grief, shock, or acute distress
Prioritize presence, listening, tenderness, and practical care over analysis or solutions
A person may need companionship and emotional safety before they can reflect or decide
Confidential disclosures
Clarify and rigorously protect privacy; share information only with informed consent or where a serious safeguarding/legal duty applies
Confidentiality is expressly important, especially for personal problems and information received in a professional or institutional capacity. [6]
Crisis or imminent danger
Act quickly to secure safety, summon emergency or professional help, and use clear direction when needed
A prolonged, equal-footed deliberation can be dangerous when time matters
Abuse, coercion, harassment, or exploitation
Do not treat the situation as a symmetrical disagreement to be reconciled; believe, protect, document where appropriate, and connect the person with competent support
“Both sides” framing can conceal power imbalance and expose someone to further harm
Professional care or expert advice
Be transparent about competence and limits; refer to qualified help rather than presenting consultation as a substitute for medicine, mental-health care, law, finance, or safeguarding expertise
Consultation can help a person weigh choices, but it does not erase professional standards or the need for evidence-based expertise
Conflict with unequal power
Create conditions in which the less powerful person can speak freely; avoid pressuring disclosure, forgiveness, or consensus
Frankness is not genuine if one party risks retaliation, loss, or humiliation
Personal boundaries and consent
Treat “no,” silence, withdrawal, or “I don’t want to discuss this” as decisive; do not insist on fuller disclosure for the sake of mutual understanding
Consultation requires voluntary participation; consent is not something to negotiate away
Institutional or group decisions
Use the fuller discipline of consultation: define the question, gather relevant facts, distinguish confidential from open matters, hear diverse views, decide, then support implementation
This is the setting for which consultation’s decision-making practices are most directly designed. [4] [7]
Casual conviviality, play, art, and friendship
Allow spontaneity, humor, storytelling, silence, and disagreement without converting the exchange into problem-solving
Human fellowship is not valuable only when it produces a decision or solution
Cases where consultation should pause
A particularly important exception is when conversation has ceased to be genuinely consultative. The Bahá’í guidance itself says that if discussion becomes prolonged or gives rise to disputation, it should be deferred until a more propitious time. [4]
That can mean pausing when:
Tempers are escalating and participants are no longer able to listen fairly.
Someone is exhausted, dysregulated, intoxicated, afraid, or under acute pressure.
Essential facts are missing and the group is speculating.
A person needs time to reflect privately or seek counsel.
The discussion has become repetitive advocacy rather than a shared search for reality.
Continuing would breach confidentiality, compromise dignity, or put someone at risk.
A pause is not a failure of consultation. It can be the most consultative response available because it protects the conditions—love, clarity, justice, and detachment—under which truth can emerge.
Not every difference needs resolution
An overly expansive use of “consultation” can unintentionally turn ordinary life into continuous adjudication. Some matters call not for a conclusion but for respectful coexistence:
A friend’s artistic taste.
Different spiritual temperaments or modes of devotion.
Preferences about food, recreation, clothing, or leisure.
A person’s need to narrate an experience without being corrected, diagnosed, or advised.
A private decision that belongs principally to one individual.
In these cases, the appropriate behavior may be curiosity rather than inquiry, appreciation rather than evaluation, or simply accompaniment rather than advice. The consultative quality is expressed by making room for the other person’s reality—not necessarily by jointly arriving at one view.
A practical rule
You might frame the matter this way:
Keep the virtues universal. Bring respect, candor, humility, truthfulness, patience, justice, and goodwill to every exchange.
Match the process to the need. Ask internally: Does this person need to be heard, protected, comforted, informed, accompanied, or joined in a decision?
Protect freedom and safety first. No conversation is truly consultative if it involves coercion, unsafe disclosure, manipulation, or disregard for confidentiality.
Use formal consultation where shared action is required. The more a decision affects a group, uses collective resources, or bears on others’ welfare, the more important it is to apply the full discipline of consultation.
Know when not to solve. Sometimes “I’m here,” “That sounds painful,” “Would you like help or simply company?” is more faithful to the spirit of consultation than offering an immediate view.
Thus, the most mundane exchange may indeed be an opportunity to be there for one another. But being there does not always mean consulting toward a conclusion. At times it means listening without directing, safeguarding without publicizing, acting decisively for safety, respecting a boundary, or leaving a difference peacefully unresolved.
Footnotes
[1] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/178842202
Arsalan Yazdani Arrested at His Home in Karaj and Transferred to Greater Tehran Prison
On 22 August 2026, it was learned that Mr. Arsalan Yazdani, a Bahá’í designer and graphic artist residing in Mehrshahr, Karaj, was arrested at his home and transferred to Greater Tehran Prison… pic.twitter.com/ofjK5aV9An
— Bahá'í International Community – Human Rights (@BahaiBIC_Rights) September 1, 2026
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá The Promulgation of Universal Peace | Bahá’í Reference Library.
Such matters should be determined through consultation, and whatever emergeth from the consultation of those chosen, that indeed is the command of God, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. — Bahá’u’lláh [1]
Question for Consideration
When Bahá’u’lláh states, “Such matters should be determined through consultation,” what do they include and how does one choose?[2]
Perplexity Computer Response:
“Such matters” is not a narrowly defined class of issues in the available English excerpt. Read alongside Bahá’u’lláh’s surrounding statements—“Take ye counsel together in all matters” and “In all things it is necessary to consult”—it points broadly to matters requiring a decision, judgment, collective action, or the reconciliation of differing understandings. Consultation is presented as a means of moving from limited individual perception toward greater awareness and well-being. [3]
What it includes
In practice, this can include:
Community affairs: plans, priorities, resources, service activities, and challenges affecting a group.
Family and personal affairs: significant choices whose consequences affect more than one person, such as education, finances, care responsibilities, residence, or a shared course of action.
Work and organizational affairs: policies, problems, strategic choices, conflicts, and decisions about collective purpose.
Questions of understanding: when people need to investigate a reality together rather than merely defend preexisting opinions.
It does not mean that every personal preference must be referred to a group, nor that consultation replaces personal responsibility, prayer, study, expertise, lawful authority, or decisive action. The principle is especially relevant when a matter is consequential, uncertain, shared, morally weighty, or likely to benefit from more than one perspective.
How to choose the matters
A useful discernment test is to ask:
Who is affected? If the decision substantially affects others, they—or appropriate representatives—should ordinarily be included.
What kind of authority applies? Some questions belong to an individual, some to a family, some to a workplace or civil body, and some to Bahá’í institutions. Choose participants according to responsibility for implementing or bearing the consequences of the decision.
Is the question one of principle, fact, or preference?
A question of principle calls for reference to the Writings and established guidance.
A question of fact may require investigation or qualified expertise.
A question of preference may need only a simple choice, unless it materially affects unity or others’ well-being.
Would individual judgment alone be inadequate? Consult when the matter is complex, information is distributed among several people, viewpoints differ, or a decision could create avoidable harm or disunity.
Can the issue be stated clearly? The group should define the actual decision before selecting participants. For example: not “What should we do about the neighborhood?” but “Which two service priorities can we realistically sustain over the next six months?”
Who are “the chosen”?
“The chosen” need not imply an elite in the modern sense. In context, it can mean those appropriately selected, designated, or responsible for the matter: members of a family, collaborators in a project, people with relevant knowledge, or duly elected institutions and agencies. The choice should be governed less by status than by three criteria:
Responsibility: those accountable for the decision and its implementation.
Relevant knowledge: those who can illuminate the facts, needs, or consequences.
Affected voices: those whose legitimate interests or experience would otherwise be absent.
The aim is not to assemble people who will ratify one person’s view. It is to bring together the perspectives needed for truth-seeking, unity, and effective action.
The consultative posture
Bahá’u’lláh describes consultation as a “lamp of guidance” and a source of understanding; the question, then, is not merely who gets a vote? but what setting will allow reality to become clearer? [3]
That suggests choosing matters and participants in a way that enables:
frank but courteous expression;
detachment from one’s own proposal once it has been offered;
attention to evidence and the common good;
willingness to revise an initial view;
a clear decision followed by unified implementation and later learning.
In short: consult on matters where shared truth, shared responsibility, or shared consequences are at stake; invite those responsibly connected to the matter; and frame the consultation so that discovering the wisest course matters more than winning an argument.
Footnotes
[1] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/598185556
BBC News' Julie Etchingham @julie_etch speaks to Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe (who was imprisoned alongside Mahvash Sabet) and translator Bahiyyih Nakhjavani about the harrowing memoir of Mahvash Sabet—an award-winning educator and poet who documented her experience of solitary… pic.twitter.com/GdqIATdezZ
— Bahá'í International Community – Human Rights (@BahaiBIC_Rights) August 20, 2026
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá The Promulgation of Universal Peace | Bahá’í Reference Library.
The Great Being saith: The heaven of divine wisdom is illumined with the two luminaries of consultation and compassion. Take ye counsel together in all matters, inasmuch as consultation is the lamp of guidance which leadeth the way, and is the bestower of understanding.— Bahá’u’lláh [1]
Question for Consideration
How does Bahá’í consultation compare and contrast with conversation? [2]
Perplexity Computer Response:
Bahá’í consultation is a particular ethical and spiritual discipline for collective truth-seeking and action. Conversation is the broader, ordinary practice of people exchanging ideas, experiences, or feelings; it may be casual, exploratory, relational, or argumentative, without requiring a shared decision.
Core difference
Dimension
Bahá’í consultation
Conversation
Primary purpose
To investigate reality, reach a sound judgment, and often determine a unified course of action
To communicate, relate, explore, inform, persuade, entertain, or simply connect
Orientation
Toward truth and the well-being of the whole
May be individual, relational, practical, expressive, or competitive
Relationship to opinions
An idea is offered as a contribution to the group’s inquiry, not as something its speaker must defend
People often identify with, explain, defend, or revise their own views
Norms of participation
Frank expression, courtesy, humility, detachment, careful listening, and mutual respect
Norms vary widely—from attentive dialogue to debate, small talk, argument, storytelling, or negotiation
Conflict
Differing perspectives are welcome, but adversarial dispute, personal contention, and imposition are to be avoided
Disagreement may be avoided, tolerated, productively debated, or become combative
Outcome
Ideally consensus; if an authorized body cannot reach unanimity, a decision may be made by majority vote and then supported in unity
No decision is required; participants can leave with continued disagreement or no conclusion
Spiritual dimension
Commonly undertaken in a prayerful attitude and framed as a moral/spiritual practice
Need not have a spiritual, ethical, or deliberative frame
Bahá’í sources describe consultation as an inquiry undertaken in love, sincerity, unity, freedom of expression, and detachment from personal views; its aim is not merely to exchange opinions but to discover the best path forward. In institutional consultation, unanimity is the ideal, with voting used when it cannot be achieved. [3] [4]
Important similarities
Both can involve:
Listening and speaking honestly.
Sharing diverse perspectives and information.
Revising one’s thinking after hearing others.
Building understanding and strengthening relationships.
Generating new insight that no participant possessed alone.
A good conversation can therefore become consultative. But it does so only when participants shift from “my position versus yours” to a common inquiry: What is true here, what serves everyone affected, and what should we do?
What makes it distinct
Three practices especially distinguish Bahá’í consultation:
Detachment from ownership of an idea. Once expressed, a proposal becomes available to the group. Its originator is expected to be as ready as anyone else to modify or abandon it if a better understanding emerges.
Unity without uniformity. Participants need not begin with the same views. Genuine difference is useful because it can reveal blind spots; the discipline is to let difference illuminate reality rather than turn into rivalry.
Commitment after decision. In a decision-making body, members may argue freely before a decision, but once a decision is reached, they support and carry it out in a spirit of unity—even if they originally preferred another option. [3] [5]
A brief example
Ordinary conversation:
“What restaurant should we choose?”
“I want Italian.”
“I’m tired of Italian.”
“Fine—pick whatever you want.”
The exchange may be friendly, but it can also stop at competing preferences.
Bahá’í consultation:
“What choice will best serve the group’s needs tonight?”
Participants identify relevant realities—budget, dietary requirements, time, accessibility, energy levels—offer options without attachment, weigh them fairly, settle on a course, and then cooperate with it.
The distinction is not that consultation is emotionless or overly formal. Rather, it asks that relationship, humility, and shared purpose govern the conversation so that a group can move from talk to collective learning and responsible action.
Footnotes
[1] Bahá’u’lláh. TABLETS OF BAHÁ’U’LLÁH REVEALED AFTER THE KITÁB-I-AQDAS. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/545364905
[4] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. CONSULTATION: A COMPILATION. February 1978, Revised November 1990. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/249611345
[5] Hornby, Helen, ed. LIGHTS OF GUIDANCE: A BAHÁʾÍ REFERENCE FILE. 2nd rev. and enl. Ed. 1983. Reprint, New Delhi, India: Baháʾí Publishing Trust, 1988, 176. https://bahai.works/Lights_of_Guidance/Consultation
Be the Voice of…
Roya Sabet Denied Medical Treatment and Medical Leave in Adelabad Prison
It was learned on 7 August 2026 that Mrs. Roya Sabet, a Bahá’í imprisoned in Adelabad Prison in Shiraz, has been deprived of access to necessary medical treatment and medical leave despite health problems… pic.twitter.com/jVaPsMi7NU
— Bahá'í International Community – Human Rights (@BahaiBIC_Rights) August 17, 2026
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá The Promulgation of Universal Peace | Bahá’í Reference Library.
Clearly, the unity of thought and action that results from maintaining focus is not to be confused with uniformity. The framework of the Five Year Plan—“a Plan designed to fit the requirements of these times”[31]—provides ample room for the exercise of individual initiative as well as collective action. Within this framework the friends are encouraged to carry out activities “aimed at advancing the process of entry by troops.”[32] Each individual believer must decide for him or herself how to participate in this global enterprise. What is important is that his or her endeavors not go so far “beyond what the House of Justice had in mind when writing of encouraging individual initiative”[33] that they shatter focus and disrupt the work of the Plan. In this sense, by learning to work within the framework of the global Plans the friends are coming to a better understanding of how to contribute to the greater good. “The spirit of the approach to systematic programs of growth,” a letter written on behalf of the House of Justice advised, “is that of believers working together effectively for the common good.”[34] And another letter to an individual believer offered the following guidance: “Ultimately, the choice fruits of one’s striving are manifested in selfless service to the Cause, surrendering all personal interests and desires for the things that pertain unto God, subordinating one’s will to the common good and ever mindful of the pitfall of attachment to one’s own service.”[35] — Universal House of Justice [1]
Question for Consideration
From a Bahá’í perspective, how can spiritual principles be applied in the voluntary/informal sector to find ways that work and begin to transform the public and private sectors? [2]
Perplexity Deep Research Response: Part VI-f
Practical Starting Points for Voluntary Organizations
For voluntary and civil society organizations seeking to apply Bahá’í-inspired principles in practice, the following starting points reflect the accumulated Bahá’í experience:
Engage actively in public discourse
Do not remain silent about the conceptual frameworks that underlie public and private sector decisions. Offer evidence-based contributions to conversations about development, economics, governance, and justice — always from a position of service to the common good rather than partisan advocacy. [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Footnotes
[1] Universal House of Justice. TURNING POINT: 1996-2006, SELECTED MESSAGES OF THE UNIVERSAL HOUSE OF JUSTICE AND SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/917204140
[5] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. SOCIAL ACTION. August 2020. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/607834883
[6] Universal House of Justice. “24 July 2013 – The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá’ís of Canada.” Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/175830999
[7] Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. SOCIAL ACTION. August 2020. Bahá’í Reference Library. https://www.bahai.org/r/602534881
Be the Voice of…
Thank you @MichaelARPage for speaking out against the ongoing discrimination faced by Bahá'ís in Qatar. @hrw's recent report warns of serious discrimination and highlights the risks facing Bahá'ís at imminent threat of deportation. Read the article here: https://t.co/GZETtwRB4lpic.twitter.com/XszCszq4Zk
— Bahá'í International Community – Human Rights (@BahaiBIC_Rights) July 24, 2026
Therefore, all souls should consider it incumbent upon them to investigate reality. Reality is one; and when found, it will unify all mankind. Reality is the love of God. Reality is the knowledge of God. Reality is justice. Reality is the oneness or solidarity of mankind. Reality is international peace. Reality is the knowledge of verities. Reality unifies humanity. — ‘Abdu’l-Bahá The Promulgation of Universal Peace | Bahá’í Reference Library.
