ing at present, in English, the available Baha'i writings on the
subject of body, soul and spirit, one is handicapped by a certain lack of
clarity because not all were translated by the same person, and also there
are, as you know, still many Baha'i writings untranslated. But there is no
doubt that spirit and soul seem to have been interchanged in meaning
sometimes; soul and mind have, likewise, been interchanged in meaning, no
doubt due to difficulties arising from different translations. What the
Baha'is do believe though is that we have three aspects of our humanness,
so to speak, a body, a mind and an immortal identity--soul or spirit. We
believe the mind forms a link between the soul and the body, and the two
interact on each other.

(Extract, letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi, June 7th, 1946)

APPENDIX: NOTES

Note 1. (Letter No. 1)

Margaret Stevenson, the first New Zealand Baha'i was born on November
30th, 1865. Her first intimation of the Baha'i Faith was through reading
"The Christian Commonwealth" and she admitted later that "she did not
think any more about it". She received this journal from her sister who
was in London studying music and had heard 'Abdu'l-Baha address the
congregation of St. John's, Westminster at the invitation of Canon
Wilberforce. She was so impressed that when another discourse given by
'Abdu'l-Baha at City Temple, London was printed in "The Christian
Commonwealth" dated March 27th, 1911, she sent a copy of the journal to
Margaret in New Zealand. In 1912, Miss Dorothea Spinney arrived in
Auckland from London and stayed with Margaret at her home, "Clunie", 3,
Cowie Street, Parnell where she talked about the Baha'i Cause and her own
meeting with 'Abdu'l-Baha. To quote Margaret's own words: "As a child, I
used to wish I had lived when Christ was on earth. As Miss Spinney spoke,
I remembered my childhood wish, and the thought came to me that I too
might have denied Him as so many others had done. It was this secret
thought that made me seriously think of what I heard from Miss Spinney,
and through God's grace and mercy I was enabled to grasp and believe in
Baha'u'llah and His Message".(10) Margaret spoke to others of her belief
and obtained literature from America, becoming a subscriber to "Star of
the West". Eventually a study group was formed in Auckland and for ten
years, Margaret's home was a venue for these classes. It was here that the
first Baha'i Feast i