True Consultation

On the second of May, 1912, at the Hotel Plaza in Chicago, where He was staying, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá spoke to the friends about consultation. In this Cause, He said, consultation is of vital importance, but what is intended is spiritual conference, not the mere voicing of personal views.

In France He had attended a session of the senate, and it had not impressed Him. There had been altercation and useless quibbling, confusion and turmoil, and in one instance a physical encounter between two members.

It was not consultation but comedy.

The purpose is to emphasize the statement that consultation must have for its object the investigation of truth. He who expresses an opinion should not voice it as correct and right but set it forth as a contribution to the consensus of opinion, for the light of reality becomes apparent when two opinions coincide.

A spark is produced, He said, when flint and steel come together. Before expressing his own view, a person should carefully consider the views already advanced by others, and if another opinion is truer, he should accept it at once. Where contradiction and altercation prevail, a judicial body has to be called in to decide.

Therefore, true consultation is spiritual conference in the attitude and atmosphere of love.

As the most memorable instance of spiritual consultation, He described the disciples of Christ gathered on the mount after His ascension, asking what they must do to be faithful to Him. One said they must detach themselves from the world, and the others agreed. Another said that those who were unmarried should remain so, and that those who were married should provide for their families and then go forth to teach; all agreed. A third said that they must forgo ease and bodily comfort, and this too was accepted. A fourth said that for Jesus’ sake they would be beaten, imprisoned, exiled, even killed, and that they must resolve to accept all this joyfully, loving those who hated them.

All the disciples replied, “Surely we will—it is agreed; this is right.” Then they descended from the summit of the mountain, and each went forth in a different direction upon his divine mission.

This was true consultation. This was spiritual consultation and not the mere voicing of personal views in parliamentary opposition and debate.

A retelling based on The Promulgation of Universal Peace (talk of 2 May 1912 at the Hotel Plaza, Chicago). For the fuller account, see the original.

'Abdu'l-Bahá. (1922). *The Promulgation of Universal Peace*. Bahá'í Publishing Trust. https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/abdul-baha/promulgation-universal-peace/