May 6. On this date in 1984, Amatu'l-Bahá Rúhíyyih Khánum began her 17 day tour of South Korea.
Jack Davis describes this stay in his article Glimpse of Ruhiyyih Khanum and Her 17 Days in Korea. A March 30, 2010 article in The Korea Herald quoted Firaydun Mithaq as saying "the number of the Baha`Is in Korea is not over 200 active believers."
Glimpse of Ruhiyyih Khanum and Her 17 Days in Korea
by Jack Davis
She
said while here that once Shoghi Effendi asked her what she would do
after his passing. She said she was so astonished by the question which
she had not thought about, that she just looked at him. He answered that
you will travel and teach and love the people. Since 1957 she has
certainly done just that. Even reigning queens of bygone ages are
largely recorded by history in terms of dates and events, as they had
very little effect on the people. Not one of them could be said to have
had influence over the entire world.
Indeed
we stand too close to Ruhiyyih Khanum to fully grasp her influence and
station. If the station of the Hands of the Cause is higher than that of
the lesser prophets of the old like Isaiah, Daniel and others, how
limited is our understanding of their true rank. What woman of past
dispensations was not only the marriage partner of the Head of the
Faith, but his confidante, friend, secretary and solace, as well as
being an active believer, teacher, author and a high-ranking individual
in her own right? Ruhiyyih Khanum has a very distinct and interesting
personality, characterized by a sense of humor, an incisively probing
mind, true courtesy and warmth, and yet it is basically very simple.
The
likes of Ruhiyyih Khanum, nee Mary Maxwell, will never pass this way
again. There has been no such woman in the past 6,000 years of recorded
history, nor will there be another like her, at least not until after
the next Manifestation of God in a thousand years. She came to Korea in
May of 1984 for seventeen glorious days … and she conquered it.
Over
30 of the friends waited at the Kimpo International airport with a huge
banner screaming, “WELCOME”! She ‘appeared’ from out of the door of
customs, and began greeting the Baha’is, posed for a picture with
flowers presented to her, and was off to her hotel. It seemed as if
unconsciously the noise in the crowded airport went down a quantum jump –
to a hush.
The next day was a free one for her. She
visited a famous acupuncturist, as she did during all the days in
Seoul, and when she came out she said, “We are relaxed, happy, confident
and secure.” Later she said of him, “We should be grateful this man is
on this earth … he knows what he is talking about.” He said about her
that she was a “living god”.
The
public meeting on the 8th, held in a gorgeous emerald green room in the
prestigious Lotte Hotel, attracted over 100 people. It was Buddha’s
Birthday, a holiday and one day after the Pope has left Korea, so the
attendance was amazing. Her dignity, ability to make people feel at
ease, to feel that the Faith is really so simple, her perfect diction
and melodious voice captivated as usual.
She
gave a simple, logical explanation, and, interestingly enough near the
end spoke of the persecutions. She told of a mother and a daughter on
the bus going to prison to be hanged. The mother, to quite her
daughter’s fears, said in comforting and sweet way, “Don’t worry. I will
ask the guards to hang me first, and then you will see that it is not
so bad.”
At the luncheon the following
day with the local pioneers and two Japanese who had come just for her
visit, when someone tried to take her plate away thinking that she was
finished, she said, “Oh, no!
Two-hundred-million Chinese are starving to death and another
four-hundred-million are almost starving, so the least I can do is
finish everything on my plate.”
She
talked about the process of deepening people who accept the Faith. “It
means”, she said, “’go back’, just go back and they will be deepened.”
At
the Press Conference with reporters from 3 Seoul dailies, she said to
them that it didn’t really matter to her whether they wrote anything
about what she said or not, however she hoped that they as young men and
women would look into this Faith, and whether they accepted it or not
was not the point.
“It
is just that you should know what it will come to mean in the world.”
She added, “If you want a headline, I can give you one: ‘A Religion At
Last That Practices What It Preaches.’!”
One reporter over coffee said that she was beautiful. She retorted, “You should have seen me 30 years ago!”
Articles
were printed, not only in Seoul, but in Pusan, Kwang and Taejeon. She
met with a reporter of the government news agency for a special
interview.
On her travels throughout the country she was accompanied by Violette Nakhjavani,
the National Assembly Secretary, Mr Jeong Ha Tack, and many others who
would join at different times to be with her or to translate.
Besides Seoul, she visited about 10 other localities, including cities,
town and rural areas. In Mokpo her talk of the importance of the
Institutions vied with the horns and other traffic noises outside the
window.
Going
on the boat to Anjwa, she was sitting on the bow much to consternation
of the crew and friends. But when cautioned, she said, “Please leave me
alone. I know what I am doing.”
She
later suggested to the Universal House of Justice that a Center should
be built on the island in the area of several islands with hundreds and
hundreds of Baha’is.
In Pusan, Kwangju,
Sinchon and Kumi, she stressed, among other things how important it is
to deepen in the Teachings. She likened the necessity of this to the way
a tree grows strong. The heavy winds and rain force its roots to go
deep. Tests and studying help us to put out spiritual roots down deep.
In
Kumi she met the Mayor of the city in a most cordial atmosphere. At
public meetings in Daegu, Keong Sang North and Anyang, a suburb of
Seoul, her references to the simple one-nesses of the Faith, the
education of children and, in one case, a reference to suffering of the
friends in Iran captivated those attending.
During
free time, she visited several Buddhist Temples in different areas. The
Chief Monk of one Temple instantly and reverently recognized her spirit
and [after] they had a long talk, he accepted the principles of the
oneness of religion. She promised him a book which was later delivered.
She also toured museums, and visited the grave of a famous General, Kim
Yu Sin, in Kyungju, and went to the Haing Nam Ceramic center.
Many
of the Korean friends were impressed by her praying in the Temples, her
childlike innocence, frankness and delighted at all she saw. She
remarked to them, “You are a good-looking people, especially your noses.”
She exclaimed over the deliciousness of Korean food, and in general showed her deep appreciation of things Korean.
There
was a dinner on her last evening in Seoul in celebration of the
Declaration of the Bab. While still at the table she cut out a paper
ballerina doll for one of the little girls, colored it, and before
giving it to the child, asked, “What shall we name her? Let’s call her
‘Mary’, my name.”
Later, slides were
shown of the Holy Land and particularly of the Shrine of the Bab.
Ruhiyyih Khanum spoke of her father’s part in its construction under the
direction of Shoghi Effendi.
Ruhiyyih
Khanum felt that her trip was a success. The friends will never be
quite the same. She gave glimpses of other dimensions of what it means
to be a Baha’i. A vision of ourselves as Baha’is and of future of the
Faith were lovingly and clearly implanted in the hearts of over
six-hundred souls who met her during the seventeen memorable days. The
Korean friends gained a new understanding of their role and a stronger
grasp of a statement made in London by Ruhiyyih Khanum herself: “The
Faith of Baha’u’llah belongs to all those who believe in Him.”
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