Pilgrim's Notes
Exported from Holy-Writings.com on 2026-06-19 - 1 clipping

Source: Bahá'í Library Online (bahai-library.com), curated by Jonah Winters. Used by permission of the curator. Original citation: unknown, Pilgrim's Notes, bahai-library.com.
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Pilgrim's Notes

[author name unknown]

1953-01

[page 1]

We must be careful in giving pilgrim notes as there may be errors.
However, Jessie and
Ethel Revell took the notes in short-hand.

I did not write while sitting by the Guardian as one could not, but after
dinner, I went
upstairs, wrote the notes and compared them with the Revell sisters and
therefore they
should be as nearly perfect as a pilgrim could get them.

There was one other pilgrim Louise Caswell from Honduras, Central
America.

I feel the same about the Shrines as I did in 1938.

We have a living Faith.

Bab - Grandeur. - Shrine
Abdul-Baha - Simplicity.

Bahá'u'lláh - Peace.

Shoghi Effendi placed me at the head of the table next to Him and it was
my privilege to
remain there during the pilgrimage. At times he served us.

He is the greatest man on earth to-day.

Description of the Guardian: - Grey hair - first thing that amazed me.
Wife says from
worry and strain. Short - no taller than I. Wears black fez. Hazel eyes.
Dynamic. Teacher
- takes books - reads, re-reads, explains. Quick in movement. Kind.
Accomplish many
things. Types all his work, Translate. Divine Plan, Administrative
Orders, gardens -map
10 years - letters, cables, etc.

His first night of teaching was on Unification.

He said that American civilization began when we were became unified.

America, middle-East, Persia and India will suffer and brought to their
knees as they are
not spiritual.

I asked Him where cradle of civilization began and He answered Iraq. From
there, people
migrated to India and Africa.

Second eve with Him was thrilling one and He lifted everyone in the room.

I did not speak to Him about immortality but that I would never get over
our son's death.
He said, "Do not think about it but be assured that now he is released
from all the fetters
of this world and he is enjoying a much fuller life. I will pray for his
soul and you will
pray for him at the Shrine and I will join you in prayers."

Question about cancer: Why haven't the prophets given the scientists the
cure for cancer,
etc.? (I am blaming God)
Answer is "He has" but man has a will and fails
to follow it and
thus retards the cure. He said God is giving the cure gradually. If man
does not work
steadily, it will be delayed.

Question: What does the 144,000 in the Bible represent?
Answer: It is
allegorical. It
means by thousands the saints and holy ones will come into the faith.
(Figure of speech.)

Question: What is the meaning of the first shall be last and the last
shall be first?
Answer:
A world revolution, e.g., Slave - President. King - Slave.

[page 2]

Question: When we have inter-stellar communications, will it be with one
another from
this earth or will it be other beings?
Answer: Other beings. (He said he
did not go beyond
that & laughed)

He told us that Paul distorted the teachings by bringing in his own
philosophy into the
teachings of Jesus; as Jesus did not leave in writing that Peter was the
expounder. Peter
being ignorant and Paul a lawyer and philosopher therefore injected his
philosophy.

He told us that one of the brothers of Christ was the head of one of the
first churches of
Christ in Jerusalem. He was like the President of the church and a
Covenant Breaker.

He says: of course you are familiar with the Tablet of Mt. Carmel, Holy
Mariner and
Divine Plan. He explained that the Ark mentioned in the Tablet of Mt.
Carmel in the
Gleanings, means Administrative Order and the Ark mentioned in the Tablet
of the Holy
Mariner is the Ark of His Faith and He is the Captain.

Then in Bahá'í News, a pilgrim got the notes mixed on the Formative Age
and Abdul
Bahá'í Divine Plan. And told Mr. Ioas to inform them in Chicago that no
more pilgrim
notes are to be printed, and then He told us the difference, they must
not be confused.

We have had the first 25 years of the Formative Age which was the first
epoch of the
Formative Age. We are now in the second epoch of the formative Age and
the third
epoch of this age will be the Golden Age.

Abdu'l-Bahá's Divine Plan is not the Formative Age.

We have had the 1st. 7 year plan

We have had the 2nd 7 year plan

We are now entering the third 10 year plan and when completed will finish
the first epoch

of the Divine Plan in 1963.

He explained that each Dispensation has a spiritual and an Adm. Centre.
Ours will always
be in Haifa. In Christianity, the spiritual place is Jerusalem and the
Adm. Order is in
Rome.

We visited the Catholic Cave of Elijah again on Mt. Carmel and the
Muslims have one
too, each claims his to be the one. Shoghi Effendi said Elijah probably
went in both of
them. Then He said that the Bab is the return of Elijah and is interred
near the cave and
He does not believe the Jews will like this when they hear it.

On the 1/17/53 Shoghi Effendi spoke about the Ten year plan. We are to
have a Religious
World Crusade and not a political crusade.

The important Bahá'í cities in order are:

1. Akka: Bahá'u'lláh is buried.

2. Haifa: Bab is buried

3. Baghdad: Most Holy House.

4.Tehran: Bahá'u'lláh was born

5. Shiraz: Bab

6. Adrianople: City of Mystery.

He explained that Isaiah and Daniel are the most important of the minor
prophets.

He referred to the Holy Leaf as being more exalted than Her mother
because of Her
status.

[page 3]

The Holy Spirit came in the following manner:
Zoroaster - fire -Mineral Kingdom

Moses - Burning Bush - Vegetable Kingdom

Christ - Dove Animal Kingdom

Mohammad - Angel Gabriel - human Kingdom

Bahá'u'lláh - Maiden -which is the most perfect form of creation.

Grand Mufti said he would exterminate the Bahá'ís when he came into power
in the Holy
Land.

Muslim faith has declined in Turkey (we found that out) and we also
visited the Holy
Spot in Istanbul. The Jews in Haifa are not as strict about their Sabbath
as they were in
1938. Christian Faith in Russia and Europe being wrapped up and a new one
replaced.
Shoghi Effendi told us that Russia has set up a new Catholic Church (true
one) but they
only doing it to undermine the people.

Truth is not absolute but relative - progressive. This should be stressed
in the Temple by
the guides, he said.

Sovereign States are increasing as old governments break down. This will
bring about a
U.S. of the World.

In the archives there are 3 oil paintings of Bahá'u'lláh and one
photograph. The photo
was taken in Adrianople while He was under stress and strain of the
conditions thrust
upon Him.

The oil paintings portray Bahá'u'lláh in the Bath, one like the Bab and
one as a Dervish.
Shoghi Effendi's favourite and my favourite.

There are 4 monuments in the Eternal Gardens. The family:

The wife of Bahá'u'lláh - most Exalted Leaf
The daughter of Bahá'u'lláh - the Greatest Holy Leaf
The Son of Bahá'u'lláh - the Purest Branch
The wife of Abdu'l-Bahá - Munira Kannum

The Most Exalted Leaf has six pillars (Monument). Munira Khannum and the
Purest
Branch have 7 pillars. The Greatest Holy Leaf has 9 pillars and
represents the
International House of Justice. (Dr. Hakim said.).

19/1/'53 another wonderful eve with Shoghi Effendi. He read from page 85
of the
Gleanings about Christ. It raises Him higher than the Protestant Faiths
do. It states the
whole creation wept when He was crucified. Not only Jerusalem but all
creation.

Shoghi Effendi said we believe in Virgin Birth, Primacy of Peter, in
Trinity as explained
in our Teachings.

I asked him if the Holy Spirit is the Prophet and He said "No" do not
confuse it, that is
the thing the Catholics do.

He told us how Christ revealed His station to His disciples in Tiberias,
taught in
Nazareth, born in Bethlehem, crucified in Jerusalem. The ministry of
Christ is most
important thing not birth or crucifiction.

Peacock is Bird of Paradise and stands for Immortality and also the Cedar
Trees. The
Eagle stands for Victory, Agressiveness, Immortality and the Ascendancy
of the Faith.
The Eagle also stands for Imperialism, and this of course we have nothing
to do with.

[page 4]

There are nine terraces now, there will be nine more to the top of the
Mt. Carmel making
18 and the Shrine of the Bab will make the 19th, and each one will be
given one of the
names of the Letters of the Living. A street runs under one of them. It
is called Abbas
Street.

There will be a Temple in Rome.

The correct pronunciation of the Temple is: Mash-rek-ul-az-kar.

Haz-e-rattle-Kuds. Q. is K - Ruhiyyih Khanum said. Sub-E-Azal.

He put out the ten year map and gave it to us in detail. 10,000 will be
distributed in color
and with explanations.

Isaih 54 tells about the Most Exalted Leaf

Isaih 54 verses 3 thru 7 tells of a New Birth of Bahá'í Faith.

Too much is said about the place where Peter is buried. More glory should
be stressed on
the Sepulchere of Christ.

Gleanings tells of our teachings

Iqan tells of our comparative religions

S.A.Q. is the philosophy of our teachings

Dawn Breakers gives us the History

Page 113 Promised Day is Come read about Peter and the Immaculate
Conception.

He said, "To-day I remembered your son at Bahji."

The Dawning place of praise is the Mash-rak-ul-azkar.

Tibet is the roof of the world.

God's plan is operating and may interfere with our own plan, but we go
right on. We
have nothing to do with God's plan, only our own.

Jessie Revell said "read the Dawn Breakers about becoming a Bahá'í."
Tablet of Wisdom
tells about philosophy of which Shoghi Effendi spoke. Page 586.

When we visited the Most Great Prison I could feel a great power. In time
we shall own
the whole Barracks. Abdu'l-Bahá in room downstairs and Purest Branch died
there. The
house of [space] is the place Bahá'u'lláh revealed the Akdas. He was held
prisoner here
for seven years.

Zoroaster visited the Holy Land.

Question: about Hidden Words: "O Son of Spirit! And O Son of Man"..
Answer: He does not mean anyone. The term is allegorical.

Each Dispensation has a great women:

Mohammad Fatima - His daughter
Christ Virgin
Bahá'u'lláh Greatest Holy Leaf
Bab Taheray.

The Shrine of the Bab has 3 crowns.

Arcade, Parapet, Octogon of the Dome.

A Dispensation is the length of time the laws evolve.

Bahá'u'lláh suffered more in Acca than any other place.

[page 5]

Oil and minerals may be found in the Holy Land as they are drilling now.
Israel will
expand. May be from Euphrates to the Nile and take in the River Jordan.

The social aspect is good. But it depends upon the character of the
person. (In teaching.)

Question: Is the Holy Sepulchre the place where Helena, mother of
Constantine,
discovered when she came to the Holy Land?
Answer: Do not know?

We must have diversity in non-essential matters. In essential matters we
keep to the
Constitution. We keep to uniformity. He has no more time to write to the
N.S.A.'s. He
has to cable.

People can call us a cult, etc. (Dispensation) But the worst he says is a
Persian Garden as
it is neither Persian not a garden. It is a World Faith and a Shrine.

As soon as one repents (he uses the word frequently Jessie Revell says)
he must be
reinstated, if his voting rights have been removed.

Haifa is the Heart of the World and the Heart of the Bahá'í World Faith.
This (The Holy
Land) is the most temperate spot in the temperate zone.

21/1/'53 - We went to Tiberias and Nazareth. These cities are the
important places
because Christ revealed Himself there.

It is the Feast of the Martyrdom of the Bab and Birthday of Abdu'l-Bahá,
(Lunar Time)
The Friends came from all around, sang songs, poetry of Taheray set to
music about
Bahá'u'lláh and songs about Abdu'l-Bahá. Then we went to the Shrines and
our Blessed
Guardian chanted the prayers.

Message to Indians.

He said we started to teach the white race during the Bab, the black
during Bahá'u'lláh,
yellow during Abdu'l-Bahá, the red since Abdu'l-Bahá's time and now we
must teach the
brown race in the Islands of the Pacific. When we teach the Brown we will
complete the
circle. Not only races but also religions. We have taught the Christians,
Jews, Zoroastrians,
Mohammedans and now we have the Hindus of India and the Buddhists of
China and
Ceylon, and Tibet. This is the message to the Indians.

He does not want us to be a minority group but we must the majority in a
place.

We must associate with the people of the country, eat in their homes,
sleep there, even to
the point of inter-marriage. This is the test. The Indians have a great
spiritual capacity
and when they embrace the Faith they will render a great service. When
you go to India
you will tell them this.

He returned from Bahji to bade us good-bye. He said "I shall pray for
your son." He gave
Homer the Oriental embrace. He said, "This is your home!"

There is a great pressure while you are at the table with the Guardian.

During 1938 I was blessed by being able to visit the Shrines every day
for 2 weeks and
go to Jerusalem. This time I went but 3 times because of my cracked ribs,
knee, cold and
weather.

This time I was blessed by seeing the paintings of Bahá'u'lláh and being
in the protective
shadow of our Beloved Guardian and whose shadow is for all mankind.

[page 6]

The message to the Egyptians was as follows:

Go to Kampala

Go to Stockholm

Take care of local affairs; join in 10 year World Crusade.

He will pray for their success and protection as they are surrounded by
enemies.

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Typed 1997 by Robert Stauffer.
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-- Pilgrim's Notes (Used by permission of the curator)