Enjoyments
The Baha'i teaching is based on moderation, not as asceticism. Enjoyment of the good and beautiful things of life, both material and spiritual, is not only encouraged but enjoined. Baha'u'llah says: "Deprive not yourselves of that which has been created for you." Again He says: "It is incumbent upon you that exultation and glad tidings be manifest in your faces." (69:3)

'Abdu'l-Baha says: All that has been created is for man, who is at the apex of creation, and he must be thankful for the divine bestowals. All material things are for us, so that through our gratitude we may learn to understand life as a divine benefit. If we are disgusted with life we are ingrates, for our material and spiritual existence are the outward evidences of the divine mercy. Therefore we must be happy and spend our time in praises, appreciating all things. (69:4)

Asked whether the Baha'i prohibition of gambling applies to game of every description, 'Abdu'l-Baha replied: (69:5)

No, some games are innocent, and if pursued for pastime there is no harm. But there is danger that pastime may degenerate into waste of time. Waste of time is not acceptable in the Cause of God. But recreation which may improve the bodily powers, as exercise, is desirable. - A Heavenly Vista, p. 9. (69:6)

Cleanliness
Baha'u'llah says, in the Book of Aqdas:
Be the essence of cleanliness among mankind .. under all circumstances conform yourselves to refined manners .. let no trace of uncleanliness appear on your clothes.. Immerse yourselves in pure water; a water which hath been used is not allowable.. Verily We have desired to see in you the manifestations of Paradise on earth, so that there may be diffused from you that whereat the hearts of the favored ones shall rejoice. - Kitab-i-Aqdas. (69:7)

Mirza Abu'l-Fadl, in his book, Baha'i Proofs (p. 89), points out the extreme importance of these commands, more especially in some parts of the East, where water of the foulest description is often used for household purposes, for bathing and even for drinking, and horribly insanitary conditions abound, causing a vast amount of preventable disease and misery. These conditions, often supposed to be sanctioned by the prevailing religion, can be changed, among Orientals, only by the commandment of one who is believed to have Divine authority. In many parts of the Western Hemisphere, too, a wonderful transformation would result were cleanliness accepted not only as next to godliness, but as an essential part of godliness. (69:9)

Effect of Obedience to Prophetic Commands
The bearing on health of these commands relating to the simple life, hygiene, abstinence from alcohol and opium, etcetera, is too obvious to call for much comment, although their vital importance is apt to be greatly underestimated. Were they to be generally observed, most of the infectious diseases and a good many others would soon vanish from among men. The amount of illness caused by neglect of simple hygienic precautions and by indulgence in alcohol and opium is prodigious. Moreover, obedience to these commands would not only affect health, but would have an enormous effect for good on character and conduct. Alcohol and opium affect a man's conscience long before they affect his gait or cause obvious bodily disease, so that the moral spiritual gain from abstinence would be even greater than the physical. With regard to cleanliness, 'Abdu'l-Baha says: "External cleanliness, although it is but a physical thing, has great influence upon spirituality.. The fact of having a pure and spotless body exercises an influence upon the spirit of man." (70:1)

Were the commands of the Prophets concerning chastity in sexual relations generally observed, another fertile cause of disease would be eliminated. The loathsome venereal diseases, which wreck the health of so many thousands today, innocent as well as guilty, babes as well as parents, would very soon be entirely a thing of the past. (70:3)

Were the commands of the Prophets concerning justice, mutual aid, loving one's neighbor as oneself, carried out, how could overcrowding, sweated labor and sordid poverty on the one hand, together with self-indulgence, idleness and sordid luxury on the other, continue to work mental, moral and physical ruin? (70:4)

Simple obedience to the hygienic and moral commands of Moses, Buddha, Christ, Muhammad or Baha'u'llah would do more in the way of preventing disease than all the doctors and all the public health regulations in the world have been able to accomplish. In fact, it seems certain that were such obedience general, good health would also become general. Instead of lives being blighted by disease of cut off in infancy, youth or prime, as so frequently happens now, men would live to a ripe old age, like sound fruits that mature and mellow ere they drop from the bough. (70:5)

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