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MENTAL AND SPIRITUAL EDUCATION |
The republic of wise men believes that the difference in minds
and opinions is due to the difference of education and the acquisition
of ethics. That is, that minds are equal in origin, but education
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and the acquisition of ethics cause minds to differ and comprehensions
to be at variance; that this difference is not in entity but
in education and teaching; that there is no individual distinction
for any soul. Hence, the members of the human race all possess
the capacity of attaining to the highest station, and the proof they
adduce therefor is this: “The inhabitants of a country like Africa
are all as wandering savages and wild animals; they lack intelligence
and knowledge; all are uncivilized; not one civilized and wise
man is to be found among them. On the contrary, consider the
civilized countries, the inhabitants of which are living in the highest
state of culture and ethics, solidarity and inter-dependence; possessing,
with few exceptions, acute power of comprehension and
sound mind. Therefore, it is made clear and evident that the
superiority and inferiority of minds and comprehensions arises from
education and cultivation, or from their lack and absence. A bent
branch is straightened by training and the wild fruit of the jungle
is made the product of the orchard. An ignorant man by learning
becomes knowing, and the world of savagery, through the bounty
of a wise educator, is changed into a civilized kingdom. The sick
is healed by medication, and the poor man, by learning the arts
of commerce, is made rich. The follower, by attaining the virtues
of the leader, becomes great, and the lowly man, by the education
of the teacher, rises from the nadir of oblivion to the zenith of
celebrity.” These are the proofs of the wise men.
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The prophets also acknowledge this opinion, towit: That education
hath a great effect upon the human race, but they declare
that minds and comprehensions are originally different. And this
matter is self-evident; it cannot be refuted. We see that certain
children of the same age, nativity and race, nay, from the same
household, under the tutorship of one teacher, differ in their minds
and comprehensions. One advanceth rapidly, another is slow in
catching the rays of culture, still another remaineth in the lowest
degree of stupidity.
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No matter how much the shell is educated, it can never become
the radiant pearl. The black stone will not become the world
illuming gem. The calocynth and the thorny cactus can never
by training and development become the blessed tree. That is to
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say, training doth not change the human gem, but it produceth
a marvelous effect. By this effective power all that is registered
latent of virtues and capacities in the human reality will be revealed.
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Cultivation by the farmer maketh of the grain the harvest, and
the effort of the gardener maketh of the seed a noble tree. The
gentle teacher promoteth the children of the school to the lofty
altitude and the bestowal of the trainer placeth the little child
upon the throne of ether. Therefore, it is demonstrated and proven
that minds are different in the original entity or nature, and that
education commandeth a decided and great influence. Were there
no educator, all souls would remain savage, and were it not for
the teacher, the children would be ignorant creatures.
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It is for this reason that, in this New Cycle, education and
training are recorded in the Book of God as obligatory and not
voluntary. That is, it is enjoined upon the father and mother, as a
duty, to strive with all effort to train the daughter and the son,
to nurse them from the breast of knowledge and to rear them in
the bosom of sciences and arts. Should they neglect this matter,
they shall be held responsible and worthy of reproach in the
presence of the stern Lord.
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This is a sin unpardonable, for they have made that poor babe
a wanderer in the Sahara of ignorance, unfortunate and tormented;
to remain during a lifetime a captive of ignorance and pride,
negligent and without discernment. Verily, if that babe depart
from this world at the age of infancy, it is sweeter and better.
In this sense, death is better than life; deprivation than salvation;
non-existence lovelier than existence; the grave better than the
palace; and the narrow, dingy tomb better than the spacious, regal
home; for in the sight of mankind that child is abased and degraded
and in the sight of God weak and defective. In gatherings it is
ashamed and humiliated and in the arena of examination subdued
and defeated by young and old. What a mistake is this! What an
everlasting humiliation!
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Therefore, the beloved of God and the maid-servants of the
Merciful must train their children with life and heart and teach
them in the school of virtue and perfection. They must not be lax
in this matter; they must not be inefficient. Truly, if a babe did
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not live at all it were better than to let it grow ignorant, for that
innocent babe, in later life, would become afflicted with innumerable
defects, responsible to and questioned by God, reproached and
rejected by the people. What a sin this would be and what an
omission!
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The first duty of the beloved of God and the maid-servants of
the Merciful is this: They must strive by all possible means to
educate both sexes, male and female; girls like boys; there is no
difference whatsoever between them. The ignorance of both is
blameworthy, and negligence in both cases is reprovable. “Are
they who know and they who do not know equal?”
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The command is decisive concerning both. If it be considered
through the eye of reality, the training and culture of daughters
is more necessary than that of sons, for these girls will come to the
station of motherhood and will mold the lives of the children.
The first trainer of the child is the mother. The babe, like unto
a green and tender branch, will grow according to the way it is
trained. If the training be right, it will grow right, and if crooked,
the growth likewise, and unto the end of life it will conduct itself
accordingly.
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