Impressions on ‘Abdu’l-Baha

Receptivity of the Individual

Source:  Stanwood Cobb, In His Presence

And so, in the case of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, I noticed upon many occasions that He never expressed spiritual power for the purpose of dazzling people, or of winning them to a spiritual allegiance for which they were not inwardly prepared. The greater the receptivity of the individual, the greater was the revelation of spiritual potency which ‘Abdu’l-Baha displayed. Thus Juliet Thompson, who painted ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s portrait, has testified to the glorious revelations of Himself which her Subject at times made to her. In similar vein have testified the Kinneys, with whom ‘Abdu’l-Baha spent several weeks. And May Maxwell once told me that she had received, upon one sacred occasion in the presence of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, such a revelation of Him that she would never attempt to describe it. But materially—minded people, ‘Abdu’l-Baha met upon their own plane, as He did Porter Sargent. And as I also saw Him do in Washington with the Turkish ambassador, on the occasion of Mrs. Parson’s reception. This being a social affair, ‘Abdu’l-Baha did not play the part of the Master, but the part of a guest amenable to the situation. And anyone who had looked into the large reception room, as I did, and had seen ‘Abdu’l-Baha sitting in a corner and exchanging funny stories with the ambassador, would have seen in ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s facial expressions no trace of spiritual power. For He was not here primarily for spiritual purposes, but to play a social part.