John Nash the Princeton University mathematician whose life
inspired the film "A Beautiful Mind," and his wife died in a car crash.
“It is very hard to be subject to any illness,
particularly a mental one. However, we must always remember these
illnesses have nothing to do with our spirit or our inner relation to
God. It is a great pity that as yet so little is really known of the
mind, its workings and illnesses that afflict it; no doubt, as the world
becomes more spiritually minded and scientists understand the true
nature of man, more humane and permanent cures for mental diseases will
be found.
“You must always remember, no matter how much you or
others may be afflicted with mental troubles and the crushing
environment of these State Institutions, that your spirit is healthy,
near to our Beloved, and will in the next world enjoy a happy and normal
state of soul. Let us hope in the meantime scientists will find better
and permanent cures for the mentally afflicted. But in this world such
illness is truly a heavy burden to bear!”
(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, April 12, 1948)
There are a great many as you know mental diseases and troubles at present, and the one thing Bahá’ís must not do is take a defeatist attitude toward them.
(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, January 12, 1957)
