22 / 22
Baha reaffirms the essence of his previous lectures in the West. Peace requires social justice,
overcoming of patriarchy, rejection of traditionalism and embracing independent investigation f
truth, elimination of all prejudices, a spiritual definition of human reality, the harmony between
material civilization and moral/spiritual civilization, and a commitment to the principles of the
oneness of humanity, collective security, and global peace. In addition we need a reconstruction
of religion so that religion becomes a cause of love and unity among all human beings, which
reconciles religion and reason, and defines religion as a dynamic and historically-specific reality.
These are essential conditions and definitions of peace.
While in this paper we cannot address the details of ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s complex approach to
his positive definition of peace we can conclude that behind all these ideas and principles there
lies a common vision of human beings as an intersubjective, communicative, and interdependent
community of spirit. Love is the supreme principle of life, and it is love that is the ultimate
animating principle of human reality. Attainment of collective self consciousness by human
species is the attainment of peace and the end of hitherto self-estrangement of humanity. This is
the true meaning of the enlightenment.
22