26 Peace
Up to this point we have covered a wide variety of topics, all focused on believing God desires us to be liberated. The foundation of this belief circles back to the very beginning of this book: The Names of God, The Purpose of God. Why would God have created us out of love without a design born from that love? Peace is not established by miracles which defy the mathematical order God designed within everything. Peace is not established by brute force and sheer acts of omnipotent and omnipresent power. God is Most Subtle. Peace is the design of everything. When we look inward, there is One. When we look outward, there is One. Every multiplicity is from One and returns to One. Every Váḥid leads to One. Every birth and death leads to One. Every first and every last adds up to One. Peace is the end result of living within this reality, which is the foundational reality of all things.
You might be sitting in a cozy chair, leaning back in a comfortable bed, or maybe taking a break from a busy day at work as you read this. What impact does a single soul such as yourself have in a world of institutions and wealth larger than one can imagine? A mirror free of dust, polished in all of its potential radiance, pointed at the divine Sun can affect the world in profound ways. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas, when followed to the best of your ability, is the blueprint for the spiritual transformation of the individual, as well as for every level of society. All of these levels are made of individuals just like you.
The Houses of Justice are made of people just like you. Political leaders of governments throughout the world are people just like you. Spiritual leaders of all faith traditions are people just like you. Now imagine if all three of these layers were made of people who believed we were meant to be One. Instead of the corruptions that counterfeit purity and oneness through oppressive man-made mechanisms, we are agents of the reordering of the world. We live Oneness together. This is achieving true liberation.
26.1 The Most Great Peace
In Chapter 22, we describe the worldwide House of Justice’s role in establishing the Most Great Peace, as described in the Ninth Leaf of Paradise in the Words of Paradise. The Most Great Peace is the unification of the world’s affairs towards a common goal or the unification of the world’s religions as one. Holy war is strictly prohibited, even if another religion or religious institution prescribes it.1 This is not a top down enforcement of belief, but the final maturation of the Stage 1 Propagation authority granted to the House by a unified humanity.
26.1.1 The Lesser Peace
Bahá’u’lláh’s Epistle to the Son of the Wolf is a great review of many overarching themes Bahá’u’lláh taught throughout His ministry. One of these themes is the Lesser Peace, which He describes as the greatest cause of the preservation of the world. It is not the only cause for the preservation of the world, but I read this to mean that there is risk that the world may not be preserved if the Lesser Peace is not pursued. Without the Lesser Peace, the world may remain trapped in the cycles of retribution we saw on the banks of the Rhine and in the streets of Berlin, where unconstrained force replaces the fear of God.
The first responsibility for establishing the Lesser Peace belongs to the kings of the world, who are the dawning places of wealth and power. Bahá’u’lláh describes that they should establish an assembly where they, or the ministers who act on their behalf, create a decree of unity between nations. They should also agree to limit weapons to only that which is necessary for the defense of their nations. Bahá’u’lláh says that if any sovereign leader rises against another with a declaration of war, all the other nations should prevent this offense. This collective security acts as a Global Trustee for the safety of the vulnerable, ensuring the Minor Trust described in earlier chapters is protected even at the level of nations. Instead of weapons, resources will be used for the reformation of the world.
The purpose of the Lesser Peace is not solely the preservation of the world. The purpose also includes the establishment and preservation of the human rights of all, which is a way to ensure liberation while the soul is in the physical domain of Earth. The people who live under the Lesser Peace will be engaged in comfort and joy, and the lamentations of most will cease.
26.1.2 Trusteeship Is Required for Peace
Trusteeship is required in order to achieve either form of peace. World, religious, and even business leaders need to be able to view their wealth, power, and influence not in terms of domination, extraction, extortion, or status, but instead to view their uncanny abilities to lead as a trusteeship towards all. A leader must first be a Witness of the people’s suffering before they can be a Helper to their liberation.
This concept is affirmed in the Kitáb-i-’Ahd’s final paragraph, where Bahá’u’lláh states His Will and Testament. Those who lived when Bahá’u’lláh lived would hear His final words being read, where He says:
“I counsel you to serve the nations and reform the world. From the Kingdom of the Bayán, what has been revealed is intended for the life of the world and the salvation of the nations.”
Every single member of humankind is to be a trustee, if they are capable. To have liberation, we need to be responsible for another’s liberation. This does not happen automatically. This book has established all of the foundations for us to achieve the Lesser or the Most Great Peace. Let’s put everything we have learned together and see what we can do to achieve God’s vision through Bahá’u’lláh.
Reflection: Where in your own life have you seen that peace requires design, not force, and what would it mean to trust that design?
Now we move from spiritual principle into social structure, because peace has a form as well as a spirit.
26.2 A World Assembly
The Lesser Peace is conditioned upon a world assembly. An assembly is any group of people who have chosen to meet for a common purpose. In everyday life, assemblies can be related to legislative, religious, educational, and social purposes. A world assembly would not be a world government. Nations do not lose their sovereignty.
There is no prerequisite required to convene a Lesser Peace assembly. This means that it is not limited to the type of government a nation has. The participating governments can be decentralized or centralized power structures, capitalist or socialist economies, single party or multiparty, and led by civilians or the military. Bahá’u’lláh did not describe any qualifications other than that the attendees are sovereign leaders or the ministers acting on their behalf.
The assembly is not the United Nations. The United Nations is a commendable attempt at creating a more peaceful world, but it was designed with 5 nations having veto power on any security actions. Two of these nations have attacked other nations preemptively in the last 20 years without any consequences by member nations of the UN. Another has several disputed borders and has recently claimed marine territory other nations had controlled. The Lesser Peace assembly is only for nations to agree to no longer attack each other. Once again, there are no exceptions. The Lesser Peace assembly is for nations to disarm to only what is necessary to defend their nations. While some nations follow this guidance, a majority do not. The United Nations is not the Lesser Peace assembly.
The Lesser Peace assembly would utilize the consultative process of “adorning the two with a third”2 to find a synthesis of truth. By adding new souls to a disagreement and drawing lots if necessary, the assembly moves past political stalemates into a space where the Holy Spirit can confirm a path forward.
A worldwide House of Justice’s sole purpose is to work towards this assembly. This House of Justice does not have any authority at the assembly, but they can be the organizers. The members do everything they can to teach and spread the idea of a Lesser Peace and this type of world assembly. Local Houses of Justice can also promote the Lesser Peace within their jurisdictions, regardless of the authority level granted to them by the people. Bahá’u’lláh also does not require there to be a worldwide House of Justice for a Lesser Assembly to be convened. Any sovereign leader can call the assembly, if they choose to do so.
Reflection: If an assembly is simply people gathering for a shared purpose, what would it take for nations to meet with trusteeship instead of rivalry?
That shift sets the stage for peace to move from aspiration into binding practice.
26.3 A Common Affair
The Most Great Peace has two modes. The first mode of achievement is to work towards a common affair. An affair is a transaction or another matter of public state business. These common affairs could be identified through a world assembly similar to the Lesser Peace assembly. One really good example of a successful common affair the world has achieved since Bahá’u’lláh’s call is when the nations of the world banned chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) with the Montreal Protocol.
Common affairs could be a wide variety of issues. A good starting point could be the rights discussed throughout this book, such as a right to education. Nations might agree to promote various virtues associated with education, such as pure truthfulness, which is not affected by ideology, state interest, or other power dynamics. Knowledge is not withheld, nor is opinion treated as fact. In these matters, the world assembly functions through expert consultation, where the nations heed the prescriptions of those skilled in the sciences and virtues required to solve global crises, much as an individual heeds a physician.
Nations retain their sovereignty and cannot be forced. An affair must genuinely be common. This means nations with relative strength cannot bully or coerce another state. The people of all nations have the same rights listed in this book, even if the nation they live in does not honor those rights.
Houses of Justice at the city level can help be public figures of these rights and causes. If a House of Justice is able to attain the fifth level of authority, it can guide its nation towards the common affairs of all nations. However, a sovereign leader can also call for assemblies of common affairs as we progress to the Most Great Peace.
Reflection: What common affair feels most urgent to you, and how would you recognize it as genuinely common rather than politically convenient?
Answering that keeps the Most Great Peace grounded in realities that protect the vulnerable.
26.4 Unification of Religion
The second mode of the Most Great Peace is the unification of religion. I feel it might be common to view this principle as meaning that all people are part of the same religion or of a dominant majority. Instead, I see three potential parallel pathways by which unification can take shape. These pathways represent the liberation of the illusions and desires of sectarianism. Whether through the direct recognition of Bahá’u’lláh or through the evolution of existing traditions, the goal is a constellation of faith that guides humanity towards a single horizon.
Parallel Pathway #1: The world increasingly becomes more aware of Bahá’u’lláh and the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. They learn about the Cause of God, the liberation of souls and societies, and believe Bahá’u’lláh is from God.
Parallel Pathway #2: The religions of the world start to naturally adopt many of the teachings and beliefs of Bahá’u’lláh, such as the abolition of holy war and the full equality of women. These religions retain their names, their rituals, and their traditions, but evolve.
Parallel Pathway #3: The leaders of religions find points of common belief between each other, choosing friendliness. They draw from each other’s strengths. A good test of such a pathway is how interfaith marriages are perceived. Could it become normal for people of various faiths to see each other as spiritual kin, which would lead to courtship, engagement, and marriage approved through the consent of both spouses and both sets of parents?
None of these pathways are mutually exclusive, and each can occur alongside the others. The worldwide House of Justice can work towards each of these three pathways, or any other parallel pathway identified. Assemblies of religions can help foster these pathways.
Reflection: If sectarianism is an illusion that binds the heart, what would liberation from it look like in ordinary relationships?
That question turns religious unification from abstraction into daily discipline.
26.5 A King Who Believes
We have a responsibility towards any sovereign leader who arises to serve the Cause of God. The Kitáb-i-Aqdas #84 says:
Blessed is the king who arises to support My Cause in My kingdom and detaches himself from all else. He is one of the people of the Crimson Ark, which God has made for the people of Bahá. It is fitting for everyone to honor, revere, and assist him, that he may conquer cities with the keys of My Name, the One Who rules over all in the realms of the unseen and the seen. He is as the sight of mankind, the most radiant crown upon the brow of creation, and the head of generosity for the body of the world. Support him, O people of Bahá, with wealth and lives.
Reflection: How does one recognize a leader who arises to serve the Cause of God? Once recognized, how might supporting such a leader with your wealth and lives look within your life?
Knowing our responsibility towards peace and a potential sovereign leader who serves the Cause of God can inspire us to remain in a constant process of preparation, ready to help ourselves and others to achieve true liberation.
26.7 Towards the Last Chapter
We cannot do any of this alone. The last chapter of this book is about teaching the Cause. We will look at Bahá’u’lláh’s guidance on teaching others. How will people know there is a Kitáb-i-Aqdas created to liberate them starting today and for at least another 800 years?
To close, this chapter has argued that peace is not a miracle imposed from above, but a subtle design expressed through trusteeship, consultation, and the steady purification of motives, so that the Lesser Peace can preserve the world and the Most Great Peace can unify its affairs and faiths. The next chapter turns to teaching because no structure of peace can endure unless hearts are awakened to the Book, the responsibilities it restores, and the oneness it asks us to live.