ry
rare.

The purport is this, that to train the character of humankind is one of
the weightiest commandments of God, and the influence of such training is
the same as that which the sun exerteth over tree and fruit. Children must
be most carefully watched over, protected and trained; in such consisteth
true parenthood and parental mercy.

Otherwise, the children will turn into weeds growing wild, and become the
cursed, Infernal Tree,(10) not right from wrong, distinguishing not the
highest of human qualities from all that is mean and vile; they will be
brought up in vainglory, and will be hated of the Forgiving Lord.

Wherefore doth every child, new-risen in the garden of Heavenly love,
require the utmost training and care.

(From a Tablet--translated from the Persian) [39]

"40: The root cause of wrongdoing is ignorance, and we must therefore hold
fast..."

The root cause of wrongdoing is ignorance, and we must therefore hold fast
to the tools of perception and knowledge. Good character must be taught.
Light must be spread afar, so that, in the school of humanity, all may
acquire the heavenly characteristics of the spirit, and see for themselves
beyond any doubt that there is no fiercer Hell, no more fiery abyss, than
to possess a character that is evil and unsound; no more darksome pit nor
loathsome torment than to show forth qualities which deserve to be
condemned.

The individual must be educated to such a high degree that he would rather
have his throat cut than tell a lie, and would think it easier to be
slashed with a sword or pierced with a spear than to utter calumny or be
carried away by wrath.

Thus will be kindled the sense of human dignity and pride, to burn away
the reapings of lustful appetites. Then will each one of God's beloved
shine out as a bright moon with qualities of the spirit, and the
relationship of each to the Sacred Threshold of his Lord will be not
illusory but sound and real, will be as the very foundation of the
building, not some embellishment on its facade.

It followeth that the children's school must be a place of utmost
discipline and order, that instruction must be thorough, and provision
must be made for the rectification and refinement of character; so that,
in his earliest years, within the very essence of the child, the divine
foundation will be laid and the structure of holiness raised up.

Know that this matter of instruction, of character rectification and