Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Befriending, sharing Message with each and all; sensitivity to openness


Below find two comments from an active teacher of the Faith - Gil - that summarizes in simple language many of the learnings that have been gathered about effective teaching methods. The first was posted to the Yahoo! group "gnats into Eagles" while the second was shared personally. They are being reproduced with his kind permission.

November 30, 2009

My beloved Baha'i Friends,
I am not sure, either, about what the Universal House of Justice want us to do, but I do have an idea of what, IMHO, would be the kind of Teaching that Baha'u'llah, 'Abdu'l-Baha, and the Guardian wanted.

Now this is the message that I get from all of them: Become a very virtuous person that could win the trust of his neighbors and acquaintances both on and off the job. After getting to be their friend, or even maybe as you become their friend, you would gently tell them about the Baha'i Faith. You invite them to your house for dinner or just an evening of conversation or cards or maybe chess. This is the type of fireside that I suspect 'Abdu'l-Baha was talking about.

Now because you, the Baha'i is well versed in religion, you might mention something about it. When this happens, the person might ask you what religion you belong to. Now When you say the Baha'i Faith, he or she will ask what is that...

I was talking to a crowd about a month or so ago and when I told all people there that I was a Baha'i, a young lady said that she knew about that religion and would I give a talk to the Unitarian Church she belongs to about the Baha'i Faith. Now you know, after she pulled the gun on me, I gave in and volunteered to do the talk (that a joke). Now let's talk about making more and more friends. Well if you gently gave them the Story and they were not interested you don't persist unless you know that's what they are wanting you to do.

About thirty years ago I asked one of the Hands of the Cause what should I do in then (in the case that someone isn't interested). He said: "Make new friends." I know it will take time and sacrifices, but what can we give God but our lives teaching the Faith. Well, that is what he said. The point that I am trying to get across is that you make a lot of friends, and then make them Baha'is with your actions and your words. If this hasn't worked then I would say follow the Universal House of Justice's lead and study the Ruhi (courses), but I think that you will be able to do both. I am also in favor of anyone teaching in any way they want as long as they can get new members and make the Faith stronger. I know that all of you have these same thoughts but I just thought that I would try to put them all together.

With the Love of Baha'u'llah ...

Gil

(Second comment:)

My friend, when I first became a Baha'i, nobody I ever talked to knew about the Baha'i Faith, but now when I talk to people I am not surprised to know there are several who know about it, has some relative who is a Baha'i, or maybe even read about it.

Let me tell you a little episode that I went through when I was teaching on the street. After a long day of going up and down streets and telling everyone we could about the Faith, we went to bed that night tired. The next morning I went to an area that I had be chosen to teach in. The very first person said: "I know about that; yesterday a man told me about it just two blocks over." Another time I went into an ice-cream shop and was asking if anyone knew about the Faith. A black man in the back said he did. He learned about this white middle class religion from one of the students at college in Edinburgh, Texas. More and more are hearing about it and even though they don't become Baha'i right away, they store the information and who knows what may make them declare? Some of this is in the Hand of God, but we have our responsibility too. And that is to show the Faith in words and actions. Also to show them our love.

Gil

Used with the author's kind permission.


Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Courage, conviction to introduce Faith as heart suggests - relating it to world events, history


Our blessed Baha'i teacher-friend, Richard, in the following report clearly shows the result of following 'Abdu'l-Bahá's advice:
When you are about to begin your address, turn first to Baha'u'llah and ask for the confirmations of the Holy Spirit, then open your lips and say whatever is suggested to your heart; this, however, with the utmost courage, dignity and conviction....

(From "Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha", Sec. 216 p. 269; Source is here)



I introduced the Faith in a manner that was totally different from anything I had said in the past. I had not planned what to say. It was spontaneous and came out of my subconscious.

I was at a meeting of the Mecklenburg minister's alliance this week, and was asked by an area coordinator of a church what the Baha'i Faith was.

I stated, "The Baha'i Faith was sent to the world by the same God Christians believe in. It was 165 years ago or the year 1844.

The Baha'I Faith refers to Terrorism and atomic weapons. If their message and teachings had been listened to and applied we would not have had the two world wars and other wars.

As well as other reasons, all the wars in the past 165 years have occurred because the Religions of the world have ignored or actively
worked at turning the world's people of against God's word through the Baha'I Faith. Inspite of this, Baha'is have grown to over 6 million
members in every nation on earth with many of it concepts being implemented by the governments of the world.

20,000 Baha'is were killed in public the 6th year of the initial founding of the Baha'I Faith. Religious opposition continues to this day. The Baha'is teachings consist of 200 books and a world organization to implement these teaching.

The Baha'i Faith's teachings are sent by God as a blue print for world peace and security with God's power to make it happen. If this blue print had been adopted in 1844, this plan and God's power would have prevented all the wars of the past 165 years. In the future the Baha'i teachings will bring the "Kingdom of God On Earth". Two new Divine teachers gave these teaching and this blueprint is now being put into practice by the flowers of the Baha'i Faith.

God asked Ishrel God through Christ asked the Jewish people to accept Christ over 2,000 years ago.

Baha'is understand that God is asking you as an individual and your church to investigate the claim of the Baha'I Faith that God has sent the Baha'is to renew God's spirit in the world and bring world peace.

You asked me what the Baha'i Faith teaches, therefore I offer you the chance to receive a free book to prove this claim that two new Teachers have been sent again by God to the world. May I give you our material that makes this claim.

He responded by saying, "Yes." I handed him my personal card and he gave me his card to send him material.

The above statement only took 2 minutes!!!!! !!!!!!!!! ! Wow!!!!!!!!! !!!!!
WHAT I SAID TOTALLY CAUGHT ME OFF GUARD! I had not planned out what I had said and did not follow through as I now will with a plan of follow up. I am going to use the same approach with refinements to dramatize this entire idea with pictures and materials.

So often in the past people have responded to us Baha'is in a brief moment like (this is interesting or Baha'is believe like I do and they see no need to pursue it further.)

I am sure this approach came out of my sub-conscious in response to my desire to challenge them to make a commitment to pursue the Faith further in a brief moment like this.


Shared by Richard on 29 september on the Yahoo! group "gnats into Eagles." Reproduced with his kind permission.

Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Teaching nurse the Faith at blood-taking

This simple teaching story was posted by our creative and steadfast friend Richard to a group list 10 August 2009:

 
I went for my physical today. I had already taught the doctor, nurses and office staff so I did not mention the Faith to them again. Then I went to give blood for my physical and I had not seen this nurse before.

I was warm, loving and appreciative with her as I try to be with everyone. I mentioned her radiant smile and thanked her for taking my blood. She responded in a very appreciative way.

I then said to her that I was going to give her a gift and it would be the most important gift she would ever receive if she liked the gift. I said the gift is telling you about a new way of life that practices seeing every person that we come into contact with as spiritual beings instead of seeing how tall or short they are, or their race, religion, politics.. etc. I am part of an organized movement that thinks in this loving way. You have probably never heard of this group, they are the Baha'is.

She responded with, "NO I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF THEM, EXPLAIN IT TO ME!"
I then taught here the Faith and gave her my personal card, the world map, and the beautiful Baha'i pamphlet. I asked her to pull us up on the world wide web.and call me at the number on the card I gave you.

All this only took a few minutes. She seemed to be impressed.

WOW! So much in such a short period.


Saturday, August 1, 2009

Reflections on the RIDVAN 2009 Message - a talk by Dr. Peter Khan

Obtained through an email list 26 July 2009.


REFLECTIONS ON THE RIDVAN 2009 MESSAGE


A talk by Dr. Peter Khan


3 July 2009



                        THE RIDVAN MESSAGE


I'm very very pleased to have the opportunity to speak about a document as significant and of such far reaching importance as the Ridván 2009 Message.


As you know it was and is unique, as far as I can tell, among the various messages of the Universal House of Justice in its brevity and in its tone.  It comes hard on the heels of a remarkable event, unprecedented in the history of the Cause, or indeed in the history of the religion throughout the world; and that was the convening, at the instruction of the Universal House of Justice, and with the invaluable assistance of the Members of the International Teaching Centre, of a series of 41 Conferences held throughout the length and breadth of the planet, attended by some eighty thousand people.


As you are, I am sure, aware, that series of conferences had a galvanizing effect on the Bahá'í Community throughout the world and ultimately on the larger society. It was a tangible demonstration of the global spread of the Faith and it created a most welcome surge toward the goal of 1500 Intensive Programs of Growth by the end of the present plan.


This Ridván Message can be regarded as celebratory in term: celebrating the fact that we have achieved an important milestone in reaching  some 1000 Intensive Programs of Growth by Ridván 2009, and expressing the confidence of the Universal House of Justice that the goal of the Five Year Plan would be accomplished.


My purpose tonight is not to dwell specifically on those details, but rather to share with you my thoughts about what I see to be two underlying issues, the exploration of which I believe to be crucial to a deeper understanding of this Ridván Message and indeed of the direction in which the faith is now going.


These two issues which I will address in turn have firstly to dwell upon the significance of Bahá'í activity at the present time in the history of the world, and secondly to examine the question of change in religion.



SIGNIFICANCE OF BAHA'I ACTIVITY


The Declining Process


                        It is, I think, generally accepted by the mass of the people of the world that there are, to a certain extent, two processes at work in the world today, a process of decline in the quality of life, and a growth in positive elements including the emancipation of deprived minorities, a global perspective through internationalism, and the use of technology for beneficial ends. This recognition of the existence of two processes is not something which has been characteristic of the mass of humanity over many years. If we survey the history of the 20th century there have been periods of great euphoria, associated generally with either the election of a charismatic political leader or with an event which seemed to hold unlimited promise such as the demolition of the Berlin wall, in 1989. But over the last 20 years it appears to me that the mass of humanity have come generally to recognize that things are not going extremely well, with the emergence of some very pressing and portentous problems.


And I think if you talk to the casual observer of the world scene he or she will say "there are two things happening at the same time, decline and growth."


Obviously we have our Bahá'í teachings on this subject but that's not the point at the moment.  The conventional reaction to this process of decline becoming increasingly apparent in the world today takes a number of forms. Most people anticipate and hope that it will only be temporary: "Things are not so good at the moment, financially with the crisis, political volatility, in Africa or Asia, or Central or South America, or in other countries, but with a bit of luck it'll get better and we'll go back to the way it was before, with a calm settled society."


So there is a general anticipation of the temporary nature of that decline. Almost universally its extent is underestimated and its ultimate severity is not accepted.  There is a universal ignorance about its fundamental cause; rather people are inclined to ascribe its cause to what we would describe as symptoms: political changes, the rise of education, the intemperance of certain minorities, the emancipation of women and so on.  And most people expect, and indeed hope, that some panacea will arise which will solve it, which will remove all the clouds, and humanity will proceed in a peaceful and harmonious manner toward its future.


It is necessary for us to look at these perceptions in the light of the authoritative statements in the Bahá'í Writings. I do this because I think the challenge we face as Bahá'ís is a challenge to avoid unconsciously absorbing the attitudes of the larger society, but rather to form our attitudes from the authoritative texts of the Faith.  These authoritative writings are in many ways dramatically different from the prevailing view in our society.  I share with you a few of the statements of the Guardian on this subject.  In one place where he refers to the magnitude of the Revelation of Baha'u'llah, he says:


For the revelation of so great a favour a period of intense turmoil and wide- spread suffering would seem to be indispensable.[1]


In another place Shoghi Effendi writes:


                        Deep as is the gloom that already encircles the world, the afflictive ordeals which that world is to suffer are still in preparation, nor can their blackness be as yet imagined.[2]


And one more passage, at risk of totally depressing my audience, is a very detailed and quite colorful passage from the authoritative Writings of the Faith, from Shoghi Effendi, in which he refers to the future in some detail:


Adversities unimaginably appalling, undreamed of crises and upheavals, war, famine, and pestilence, might well combine to engrave in the soul of an unheeding generation those truths and principles which it has disdained to recognize and follow. A paralysis more painful than any it has yet experienced must creep over and further afflict the fabric of a broken society ere it can be rebuilt and regenerated.[3]


                        I call your attention to the phrase "broken society" which is almost echoed in the Ridván Message which refers to the "broken world."


It is apparent to me, as our Writings anticipate, that the declining process in the world will continue for an extended period.  No time scale is given, but it may well be decades or indeed centuries. And during that time the extent of the breakdown of society, the ills afflicting mankind, will be of a magnitude and extent and duration far beyond our capacity to comprehend at the present time. As it continues, we might well anticipate a variety of reactions from the people around us.


First will be denial: "You know it's not as bad as you're saying, you're acting like a Jeremiah, things are getting better".


That denial will ultimately give rise to searching for a scapegoat, for the problem: that thing has caused it. It may be a particular minority, it maybe the Romani gypsies of Northern Ireland affecting that society, it may be the Jewish people in the Middle East, or it may be some other minority in another part of the world.  The spread of education is an attractive villain: "People are going off to school, learning all kinds of crazy ideas and coming back and disturbing society."


Female emancipation is a tempting target, "If women would stay at home, the kids would be much more settled and behave a lot better, and there'd be more jobs for the men, and things would be as I were in the Saturday Evening Post of the 1940s' and '50s."  That, I think, would give rise to volatility in a search for extreme solutions: "Something is terribly wrong, we've got to find what the answer is. Is it this or it's that? "Extreme solutions would be embraced and discarded, and we see some signs of that in the political process today in a number of countries, in the fact that elections swing from the extreme left to the extreme right.  When each person is elected, the people become disillusioned, even in some cases driving him from power before his term is concluded; in other instances, they suffer him but they then elect somebody of the extreme opposite polarity.  This would give rise further to an intense desperation of search and ultimately to despair and to hopelessness about long term planning:  "what is the use of anything?  Why try?"


                        Shoghi Effendi in one place refers to the declining process, and says its ultimate end is in "barbarism, chaos, and ultimate extinction[4]."  The mercy is that fewer and fewer components of humanity will remain with it to this bitter and untimely end.




                        The Role of Religion


                        What is the fundamental cause? Why did it all happen? Where did it all come from? There are varieties of causes, there are some brilliant analyses which have been published in the literature of the present society and which attempt to trace the origins of the turmoil and unrest in the world.  By and large they are very good: they're insightful, they're analytical and they're perceptive, but they leave unanswered the question "where did that come from." It's a way children are when they say: - "Who made me?" – "God" – "Where did God come from?" – "Go away."


                        Bahá'u'lláh has addressed this ultimate question, this fundamental question of human society in which He refers to the basic cause of the decline in the world as that of the loss of adherence to true religion. He says:
                        Religion is a radiant light and an impregnable stronghold for the protection and welfare of the peoples of the world...           Should the lamp of religion be obscured, chaos and confusion will ensue, and the lights of fairness and justice, of tranquility and peace cease to shine."[5]              


                        It is in that context that one reads in the Ridván 2009 Message references to the oppression throughout the world and reference to the fact that our purpose and the purpose of Bahá'u'lláh is to liberate humankind from the yoke of oppression.


What - we might ask - has oppression to do with the loss of religion? The answer is found in the Kitab-i-Iqan, where Bahá'u'lláh says:


What "oppression" is more grievous than that a soul seeking the truth, and wishing to attain unto the knowledge of God, should know not where to go for it and from whom to seek it?[6]


This is the ultimate oppression, not putting people in prison or driving them to become refugees to another country or depriving them of their human rights. The greatest oppression is that of a human soul yearning for the truth, yearning for the knowledge of God, not knowing where to go for it and from whom to seek it. There can be no greater oppression than that. This is the yoke of oppression, that Baha'u'llah has come to lift from mankind and that is what the Ridván 2009 Message is all about.


                        Today we see the desperation of the search for truth and meaning. It takes its form in adherence to a variety of substitutes for true religion. For example, the rise of religious extremism and authoritarianism from religious leaders I would see as evidence of the decline of true religion.


                        Shoghi Effendi in Promised Day Has Come refers to the downfall of Islam, its loss of power and influence.  How are we to evaluate that in terms of present day events which seem to indicate the very opposite, the resurgence of Islam, either Shi'te or Sunni, in a variety of countries of the world?  I see that as evidence of the downfall, rather than the rise of Islam. Religious leaders have had to forsake spiritual influence for the naked exercise of power, often in its cruel and brutal form, in order to maintain their position and their authority.


Religious extremism, be it Christian, be it Muslim, be it Jewish, be it Hindu, or Buddhist, represents the decline of true religion and the onset of oppression.


                        The fermenting of hatred and division in the world, I see as an example of this oppression: trying to identify some external group to whom one can turn all one's frustration, one's anger, one's venom, as part of achieving inner peace and satisfaction.


Another form of oppression I see is the search for instant meaningful solutions: the sense of hunger, the sense of something that is missed out on life, with the years going by, and translated into a search for an instant meaningful solution, which of course can give rise to break down in marriage and in society generally.


Indulging in extreme behavior to fill the spiritual vacuum, and maybe absorption in alcohol, involvement in narcotics or in promiscuity, or even deliberately seeking dangers in extreme sports, underlying that I see the oppression of a soul searching for meaning, looking for the truth, exactly as Baha'u'llah describes in Kitab-i-Iqan, and being driven by the desperation of that search to become involved in things we know are self destructive as well as unsatisfying to that need.


                        Another form of that oppression is the worship of idols.  These are not idols of stone, wood or metal but political idols, entertainment idols, sporting idols.  Look for example at the sentiments expressed in the world in the last few days with the untimely death of Michael Jackson.  So much of what is being said has a quasi religious character:  "Michael is not dead, Michael still lives, Michael will live on in his music".  Fans gather outside the gates of Neverland Ranch, flowers are put there, seventeen thousand people will go to the stadium on Tuesday for the commemorative service. He'll end up like Elvis Presley, where you make a pilgrimage to Tennessee once a year, and so on.                 


With the worship of idols, we can of course very comfortably and very satisfactorily look down on the pathos of the behaviour being displayed but we can also recognize in it the desperation of search, of human beings like you and me who look for something to which they can devote their deepest feelings, something beyond themselves, driven by a sentiment that ultimately can only be satisfied by true religion.  This search finds its present form in the worship of idols, including political idols, the quasi-religious sentiments with which charismatic political leaders are hailed when they first come to power and later the opposite occurs; the worship of sporting idols with the sense of devotion that normally is ascribed to religious practice.  The absorption in irrational beliefs and theories represents yet another element of this oppression.


Why am I saying all this?


I'm saying this because I believe we, in our adherence to the precepts of the Ridván Message should see that our devotion to the spread of the Bahá'í Faith is the fundamental solution to the declining process. We dwell on the nature of the declining process, as described vividly by Shoghi Effendi, not to become depressed, not to become discouraged, not to afflict each other with gloom and doom, but rather to find in the human suffering around us the motivation to serve the needs of the Cause, to contribute to the fulfillment of the present Five Year Plan and all the other elements to come in the future as part of advancing the process of entry by troops. We find motivation not only from the prayers, from the inspiration of the Writings, from the example and the encouragement of others, but also from the pictures on television of suffering, from what we know people are going through in Darfur, or Somalia, or Western Africa, or Cambodia, or other places.


                        In that we see a new energy to serve the needs of the Faith: they are directly correlated. It's not an indirect correlation, how Bahá'í work aims fundamentally and directly at the relief of humanity from the decline.


As I'm sure you all know, service to the Faith is in many times inspiring, energizing and liberating, but let us also recognize that at times service to the Faith is tiring, frustrating, discouraging, and fraught with disappointment. It is part of the human condition and at such times our inspiration is drawn from the mission given to us to, as the Ridván Message says, aid Bahá'u'lláh to lift the yoke of oppression from humanity.




The Nature of Civilization


The Ridván 2009 message refers to the role of the Faith in "rebuilding a broken world". Shoghi Effendi has referred to the present society in terms of the threat to the fabric of civilized life. He says:


If carried to excess, civilization will prove as prolific a source of evil as it has been of goodness when kept within the restraints of moderation.[7]


"The day is approaching" – he foreshadows - "The day is approaching when its [civilization's] flame will devour the cities..."[8]


          He refers to the future glorious destiny of mankind, but he asks the rhetorical question:                 


                        Must the inauguration of so vast, so unique, so illumined an era in human history be ushered in by so great a catastrophe in human affairs as to recall, nay surpass, the appalling collapse of Roman civilization in the first centuries of the Christian Era?[9]


                        As you know the Roman Empire took about 400 years to collapse, it didn't suddenly go bang, it declined and cracks appeared and then the whole thing progressively fell apart.  Shoghi Effendi refers to the prospect of the present-day declining process leading to the fall of civilization, and in this case not simply in one part of the world, as in the Mediterranean world of Rome , but rather on a world scale. It's worth our while taking a moment to review the fall of the Roman Empire .  Much has been written about it, by a variety of authors extending back to Gibbon and Spengler, among others.  But I'm interested in a couple of contemporary authors.  Kenneth Clark, wrote a book titled "Civilization" and he referred to civilization as an entity that occurs at various times in history, and he said its nature is such that however complex and solid it seems it is actually quite fragile.


                        Those of you who recall the pictures on television at the time when hurricane Katrina afflicted New Orleans will have seen there a slight glimpse of the fragility of civilization, (although that was of course a temporary thing). Clark goes on to point out that the downfall of Roman civilization was due to a number of factors: the rise of fear, fear in the unknown, including fear of the mysterious supernatural; a lack of confidence in society, in philosophy, in laws and in one's own mental processes, and in a decline in behavior, not so much in terms of immorality or promiscuity, but a lack of energy and vigor.  Another of the most interesting studies of civilization is that of Radhakrishnan, the Indian philosopher and former Vice President of India who wrote a most entertaining book "Eastern Religions and Western Thought" in which as a non Christian  he looked at that period of history with the fall of the Roman Empire and the ultimate rise of Christianity. He also ascribes a fall of the Roman Empire to be due to a variety of causes: greed and corruption. He refers to the growth of vast fortunes and widespread poverty throwing society out of balance, a most intriguing concept and phrase. And he summarizes what happened and said it was a period of disorder, the collapse of the higher intellectual life, the decline of righteousness, a time when philosophy failed, literature languished, and religion became rigid and superstitious.


We face the danger in our world of the collapse of civilization.  We know that our religion aims to give rise to a world civilization.  We know that it will come, an incontrovertible promise of Bahá'u'lláh, but the transition may well involve a massive and prolonged decline of civilization in its old form and the gradual rise of the new.


It seems to me that the Bahá'í Faith is, as far as I can tell, the first religion to self consciously see its ultimate purpose in the creation of a new civilization. My knowledge of history is limited, I'm an engineer, we don't read books or anything like that, but it seems to me that when I look at, say, Christianity, the early Christians were bent on survival, bent on taking the glad tidings of the coming of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles as well as the Jews in the Mediterranean world and they succeeded.  As Christianity developed so the Byzantine civilization arose.  The early Arab followers of Muhammad gave no indication that they saw the glories of the civilization of Baghdad , Cordova, Damascus and Cairo in their future.  It was initially a matter of eradicating paganism from their midst.


                        Our religion self consciously states from its various earliest days that its aim is to produce a new civilization and in that sense it formulates its strategy along those lines.


Let us say we had mysterious powers and we're given a blank sheet of paper and told: - "Set out the requirements for making a new civilization". And we think about it, consider what is a civilization, it's obviously more than Palm Pilots and PCs, and things like that, there's something much more fundamental to it.


How do you make a civilization?


A civilization involves a foundation of behavioral change through spiritual transformation. We can agree on that. A civilization depends upon certain moral and ethical, spiritual characteristics, but what else? What is the framework of the new civilization we are conceptualizing in this hypothetical example of given a blank sheet of paper and asked "please, set out a framework for a civilization"?


We would want to have certain things:


- We'd want an institutionalized practice of individual and community worship, for a variety of reasons


- We would want individuals comprising that civilization to engage in an exploration and application of divine teachings to daily life, so that we can build up a civilization in a reasonable and productive manner


- We would want civilized society to be imbued with a sense of altruism to the service of humanity. We don't want selfish greedy people, but people who are altruistic, who think of the larger good.


- And essentially we would want them to transmit civilized values to the new generation of children and youth.


                        If you were to agree that those are the elements of the framework of a civilization then I must tell you, you have fallen into my trap, because what I have described are the elements of the core activities of the Five Year Plan. What I have referred to are things such as the devotional meetings, the institute process, study of the Ruhi Books, the focus on service to humanity, children's classes, youth classes, the junior youth activities.


                        The point I make is that we are engaged, obviously in the spread of the Faith, in pursuit of the endeavors of the Five Year Plan and beyond, but far more than that we are establishing the roots of new civilization in our day-to-day activities of the present plan.  This doesn't mean that civilization will magically spring into being like the goddess Athena, rather it will come gradually, slowly, generation upon generation, decade upon decade, and century upon century, to realize its fruit in the Golden Age, but its roots are to be found in the activities of the present day at this time in history.




                        HANDLING CHANGE IN RELIGION


                    
                        The Religions of the Prophetic Cycle


Let me now turn to my second point, in terms of underlying issues in the Five Year Plan. I want to draw your attention to the phenomenon of change in religion.


                        I want to offer you the assertion that all the religions of the Prophetic Cycle contain within them a basic contradiction: this doesn't mean there was any deficiency in their Founder, but rather it was a evolutionary stage of human history. That contradiction I see in the fact that each of these religions had as a mission it accomplished very successfully, the liberation of the human spirit which produced creativity, innovation, invention and ultimately social evolution. And the contradiction arises from the fact that if you do that, the behavioral pattern prescribed at the beginning of the religion becomes out of date.  That happens because the religion is successful: it produces civilization, produces creativity, produces change in behavior and the like, and so its initial behavioural principles, whether they're given by the Manifestation, or by a group of clerics, become out of date.


                        This contradiction, then, produces division in the religious community. There is division between those who cling doggedly to authority and resist change:  "Never mind.  This was given to us by whatever either the church fathers, or the Founder of the religion Himself, we'll continue to hold to it", and so you get a dogged resistance to that change and ultimately fanaticism in defending the original form.  And the other extreme we have those who embrace change, are at the cutting edge of society, who follow change, but of course they cannot agree on the authority: so you have the division in sects, the rise of Protestantism and the like, in terms of a commitment in change at the highly expensive price of a loss of authority; also there is a insecurity with that change.  We see this in each religion.


In Islam we see it nowadays with the desperate attempts to recover the pristine spirit of Islam through a return to Shari ' a Law, and all the problems that brings. We see it in the attempts to return women to the relatively secluded life and lack of freedom which was characteristic of the early days of Islam, whether it was ordained by Muhammad or not is another question.  We see also the attempt to restore the strictness of the dietary laws that were necessary in the early days of Islam.  In all of these we see this tension.


                        In Christianity the same tension arises: the prohibition on divorce, applicable in the early days  becomes a source of tension today; the church priestly authority, appropriate at the time when there was mass illiteracy, when one needed to turn  to a leader or  figure of authority, becomes another issue; and of course dietary laws.  What is interesting is that Shoghi Effendi has referred to this tension and he says:


The cleavage between the fundamentalists and the liberals among their adherents is continually widening.[10]


And he relates that to one of the facets of the declining process. A part of the decline is the increase in this tension between the two polarized extremes of these religious communities of the Prophetic Cycle.




Change in the Bahá'í Faith


We now come to the Bahá'í Faith. Obviously it must deal with change, and it must deal with it in two quite distinct, but somewhat related dimensions: one is legal and the other one is psychological.


Within the structure of Bahá'í Law the problem is straight forward: the authority Bahá'u'lláh conferred upon 'Abdu'l-Bahá and in turn upon the Guardian and the Universal House of Justice provides an impregnable stronghold for the legal authority to implement an appropriate degree of change. In the case of the House of Justice, the authority is given to implement change is quite fascinating, it has several components to it.  They include:


- The right of the House of Justice to carry out progressive clarification and application of Bahá'í Law gives it authority to make change.  For example Huqúqu'lláh: it was around in the books for a long time, but it became universally applicable in 1992. There are a number of other laws in the Kitab-i-Aqdas not yet applicable, change will occur as the House of Justice decides to apply them.


- The right of the House of Justice to make and change subsidiary laws is also a legitimate application of the legal authority of the House of Justice to make change, obviously within the limits prescribed.


Shoghi Effendi has referred to the Faith as it developed in the future and he says:


"The Bahá'ís should not always be the last to take up new and obviously excellent methods, but rather the first, as this agrees with the dynamic nature of the Faith which is not only progressive, but holds within itself the seeds of an entirely new culture and civilization."[11]


And this right, the legal right of the House of Justice to make and change subsidiary laws is part of the apparatus of the Faith to remain progressive and at the forefront of cultural civilized change.


- The House of Justice is also given a remarkably broad authority, as stated in its Constitution; it has the right to found Institutions, to usher in the World Order of Baha'u'llah: this is an enormous degree of power and authority assigned to the House of Justice as its legal right in this religion.


Nevertheless it remains the challenge to the Bahá'í community to deal with the psychological dimension of change. I mention this because one tends to be secure if there is no change: one does the same old thing day after day, you do it in your sleep, you do it without even thinking, and everything is stable and comfortable. Change disturbs all that, and one just tends to be resentful of it: "this is not the way it used to be, I have very fond memories of childhood and the pattern of behaviour of that time."  Shoghi Effendi has in a number of places warned us of avoiding extremes.  It tells us for example:                  


                        It is our primary task to keep the most vigilant eye on the manner and characteristic of the characteristic of the growth of the Faith,...lest extreme orthodoxy on one hand, and irresponsible freedom on the other, cause it to deviate from that Straight Path which alone can lead it to success.[12]                 


                        And there are a number of other passages which deal with the same theme. There's one of the House of Justice.


                        "In past Dispensations believers have tended to divide into two mutually antagonistic groups: those who held blindly to the letter of the Revelation, and those who questioned and doubted everything. Like all extremes, both can lead to error.[13]


                        I mentioned this because one is more comfortable clinging blindly to the letter of the law:


- "Why are you doing this?"


- "Look, here it's written black and white, read for yourself. It's so clear!"


And yet we are warned to avoid the extreme of clinging blindly to the letter of the law, just as Shoghi Effendi warns us against extreme orthodoxy. And 'Abdu'l-Bahá also of course warned us against this rigidity. In one place, this was a statement attributed to him, it's in Star of the West, he says:


"Holding to the letter of the law is many times an indication of a desire for leadership. One who assumes to be the enforcer of the law shows an intellectual understanding of the Cause, but that spiritual guidance in them is not yet established."[14]                  


                        It's quite a sobering passage from 'Abdu'l-Bahá.


At every stage of the unfoldment of the Cause, where there has been change it's been a test to the believers: my reading of Bahá'í history, is that the ministry of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, included actions which were a test to a number of the believers.  It included His focus on the west - "there are still plenty of people around here to teach the Faith to, why worry about Canada or United States or Australia and other remote places?"


                        "We'll get to them eventually"-; the Tablets of Divine Plan, a cause for the scattering of the friends all over the world, the setting up of organization in His Will and Testament.


These were a test to a number of devoted believers of that time.  The same applies to Shoghi Effendi; his conduct was a test to some and of course the mist of history obscures this now, decades have passed; at that time there were a number of believers, sincere devoted believers, troubled by what Shoghi Effendi did. They didn't become Covenant breakers, they did not doubt the validity of the Covenant, they were faithful believers, but they were troubled: "Why did he stop going to the mosque every Friday, when his grandfather, the perfect exemplar, had done that?  Why did he adopt western clothes in contrast with his predecessors?"  "Why from 1921 to 1937 did he focus on raising the Administrative Order?  Was he not turning it into an organization rather than a dynamic spiritual free-from-constraint religion?"  "Why did he call upon us to expel from the community those who flagrantly violated a Bahá'í law? Where was love? Where was forgiveness? Where was a sin covering eye?" and so on "Why did he activate living Hands of the Cause and ultimately Auxiliary Board Members?"  This was a very interesting strategy: initially the first ones were designated posthumously until we got a little more used to the concept and then the time came to appoint living individuals.


                        The House of Justice, in its conduct over the years has provided the same degree of test through change. Sincere, devoted, highly faithful believers were tested. When the House of Justice, in one of its first actions, combined the Eastern and Western pilgrims, I've talked to a number of people who were deeply tested by that. They remained faithful to the Cause, they remained devoted, but they were shaken by it. The decision that the Huqúqu'lláh, in the absence of the Guardian, should come to the House of Justice was a test to many. The establishment of the Continental Board of Counselors tested a number of individuals who had some misgivings about appointed people and titles and all the rest of it, and then of course the Teaching Centre; the establishment of Regional Bahá'í Councils, even though the Constitution of the House of Justice has the right to found institutions, this was a test to the believers:  "what will happen to the National Assemblies? Why was their power been taken? We got by very well without Regional Bahá'í Councils for decades, why do we need them now?" Etcetera.


                        The House of Justice far greater latitude than that, and I think if we would live for another century, we would see all kinds of changes in the future.


I dwell on this as my final point because the House of Justice in 1996 began a process of quite significant change and that change is a test to some sincere and devoted believers.  The concept of clusters has been a challenge to some, not to everybody, but to some: "what about the LSA, are we going to forget about that?  Shoghi Effendi gave us the LSA? Why do you need the cluster?"


The priority given to the core activities such as and the focus on the intensive and prolonged group study of the Ruhi books, has been a test to some:  "it means we can't have firesides? We can't have deepening classes? What about all the things in the Writings?  Is that all we have to study?"  And the like.


The focus on Intensive Programs of Growth has been a test. The deeper involvement of the International Teaching Centre, the Counselors, and Auxiliary Board Members in the life of the community has been a test, not to disputative or contentious believers, but to a number of devoted believers who remember the old days, who remember when life was simpler: they went to Feast, we had a fireside, we went to deepening classes and occasionally did something else. Life was simple, life was straight forward, it was entirely comprehensible, and then along came this whole apparatus using words that do not appear in the Writings, as far as one can tell from earlier times: Cluster, Intensive Program of Growth, Core Activity and the like.


                        This is a challenge of change.  It can be avoided very simply by allowing the Faith to remain static and to wither. We cannot do this, we have no choice, we have to build the World Order of Bahá'u'lláh. Things have to expand and develop in ways we cannot yet comprehend. This requirement of necessity is that change can and must occur if the Faith is to fulfill its ordained destiny and its future.


We must overcome any psychological barrier to change, any misgivings, any concerns and troubles. We must recognize that when there is change you get extremes.  In this case the change since 1996 have produced in a few people a very colorful extreme: the accusation that the Ruhi material is only applicable to the Third World . This is very interesting, it's very colorful, because when you open a Ruhi book what do you find there? The sacred Texts! The authoritative Writings.


If you look at Book 1, there are passages you can spend your life contemplating, just as devoted Christians have spent their lives contemplating the phrases of the Lord's Prayer.  Another extreme is the accusation that we are ignoring Assemblies, feasts, firesides, and deepenings; the false accusation that Anna's presentation could be given by a parrot; these are an extreme distortion which reflect one's unease and frustration at the change that has been brought about by the House of Justice.


                        The automatic equivalence in the minds of some between the House of Justice call to direct teaching, to present the coming of Bahá'u'lláh in more direct terms, based upon the condition of the world, based upon the spiritual hunger of mankind, trivialized and gravely distorted into a call for the universal application of door to door teaching. These are all expressions, to my mind, of the unease of capable and devoted believers who are struggling with change.  Of course when you go to one extreme you get the other extreme, you get the criticism of those who are not involved in the Institute Process, extreme statements to not bother with the LSA or with firesides, the confusion between priority and exclusive, and so on.


This is the challenge we face and it's inherent in the Ridván 2009 Message.  The solution is childish simple; the solution is so simple, it hardly worth mentioning.  The solution is no more and no less than unreserved acceptance of whatever the central authority of the Cause, in this case the Universal House of Justice decrees.


                        If we would hold to that, if we would contemplate it deeply, if we would absorb the implications and meaning of unreserved acceptance and implementation of whatever the Central Authority in the Cause decrees we are safe.  Nothing can trouble us, we are in an impregnable stronghold, and we would become part of this massive movement of humanity to rescue the world from the perilous disorder, the intense suffering of the declining process and to usher in the ordained new world civilization in the Golden Age of the Cause.


[1] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 168-71.


[2] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 168


[3] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 193


[4] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 187


[5] Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 125.


[6] Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Iqan, p. 31


[7] Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, p. 31


[8] Shoghi Effendi, The Promised Day is Come, p. 3


[9] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 201


[10] Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha'u'llah, p. 183


[11] Compilations, The Compilation of Compilations vol II, p. 283


[12] Shoghi Effendi, Baha'i Administration, p. 42


[13] Compilations, Scholarship, p. 16


[14]  Star of the West, vol 6, no. 6, June 24, 1915, page 44


Monday, June 22, 2009

A cluster’s plan of activities for the consolidation phase

Here is a succinct summary of activites going on in the Intensive Program of Growth of a cluster in the Northeast shared by email recently.
 
"With so firm a foundation in place, the foremost thought in the mind of each and every believer should be teaching. Whether in their personal efforts they teach their friends in firesides and then involve them in the core activities or use these activities as their primary instrument for teaching, whether as a community they make their work with children and junior youth the initial thrust in a cluster or focus first on the older generations, whether in their collective endeavours they visits families in teams as part of an intensive campaign or call on seekers in their homes periodically over time.... What all must acknowledge, irrespective of circumstance, are both the crying need of a humanity that, bereft of spiritual sustenance, is sinking deeper into despair and the urgency of the responsibility to teach with which we each have been entrusted as members of the community of the Greatest Name." -- Universal House of Justice, Ridvan 2007

Even though the expansion phase is over, the teaching continues.  Below find the your cluster's plan on how to continue the teaching work, Please send thoughts, stories and feedback as the Cluster Agencies learn from this process.  
 
Creating lasting spiritual bonds with friends, family, co-workers & neighbors
(A) Sharing the fundamental verities of the Faith
(B) Starting core activities: use vision of the Universal House of Justice (quoted below from 28Dec08) 
  • Devotional gatherings: Efforts to hold meetings that strengthen the devotional character of the wider community
  • Children's classes: Offer classes that foster the spiritual development of children
  • Junior youth groups: Form groups that channel the energies of junior youth
  • Study circles: Establish circles of study, open to all, that enable people of varied backgrounds to advance on equal footing and explore the application of teachings to their individual and collective lives 
Accompanying others
(A) Encourage based on vision from the guidance and encourage them to share that vision with others
(B) Please call at least one other person to share with them the plan and the vision for the rest of the expansion phase
(C) Think of one person with whom you'd like to work to teach during the expansion phase
 

Sunday, May 17, 2009

One in a group of young men calls to teachers asking what are doing, hears presentation and declares


Friday, May 15, 2009

"Baha'u'llah is for everyone, not just for those we think look like a Baha'i"

Southern Nevada (A) recently launched another cycle of its intensive program of growth. There were many joyful results: 10 individuals declared their belief in the Cause, and numerous study circles, devotional meetings and children's classes were established. Of the many inspiring teaching stories received from this cluster, we are sharing two here for the important lessons they convey.


The first is basic common sense, but something definitely worth reflecting on because it is easy to forget:


We were able to engage many people while walking through the neighborhood simply by saying "Hi" to everyone and by making eye contact. If we hadn't taken this initiative we would have missed the chance to meet and talk with __, who then declared their belief in Bahá'u'lláh. . . .


The second is a reminder to not make assumptions on people's interest and receptivity based on their looks or outfit.


Today we had two new people on our teaching team. It was their first time going out direct teaching and they were so excited. Having that amazing energy with us today helped us to have great success. After we visited all our assigned buildings with little more than a half presentation and a couple of follow ups. We were walking to our car to return to the Bahá'í Center. A group of young men was standing out in front of the apartment, and as we walked by, one of them called out to us. He looked to us like the least likely person to be interested in the Faith based on how he was dressed. But he asked us what we were doing, so we started sharing Anna's conversation with him. At the end of it he declared and said that he wanted to tell his good friend about everything that he had just learned. We learned the true meaning of "don't judge a book by its cover." Bahá'u'lláh is for everyone, not just for those we think look like a Bahá'í. The best part is that our two new teachers were so excited and cannot wait for next weekend's direct teaching effort.




Friday, April 10, 2009

Teaching while under surgery!


Another two delightful stories from our active teacher Richard about making the best of every opportunity to teach! Shared on the 'gnats into Eagles' Yahoo! group, and used with his permission.

4 April
I just found out there are many different areas of the heart that each have specialists. One is electrical. My appoitment today in this area showed that I needed a pacemaker now. He wanted to send me to the hospital and have a PACEMAKER put in yet today but couldn't get into the hospital till Monday which was also full but he had me come in at 6 am to get it done...

I told the doctor that I loved the knowledge of different cultures and asked if he would mind me asking what his Religon was. He appreciated the interest and replied Sikh. I showded that I knew what Sikhs were and told him I was a Baha'i. He said he was very familiar with the Baha'is.

I then said to him, "I came to you 'seeking' help with my heart, and I find that 'seeking' knowledge.about my heart introduced me to a true 'Sikh" in ever sense of the word and it is so rewarding to me to have a Sikh help me with my 'seeking'. It is good to be in Spiritual hands!"

He is about 40 and enjoyed my sense of knowledge and poked fun at my humor (or lack of it), whichever it is.

10 April

It is now a day after I had my pacemaker put in. Pulse was 40 down to 20 for the past year. Now it is a steady 70. Wow! I guess my body now has nearly twice the blood flow for the same period of time. That has got to give me a rush!

There were 6 people in the operating room for the hour of the surgery. I taught the Faith to one of them for the entire operation. When my Sikh doctor saw [my wife], he said with a smile that I talked Baha'i the entire operation. I could only see one person's face and it seemed right to keep talking about the Faith. While the doctor was working on my heart, hopefully I was God's scalpel to operate on the doctor's soul.

I cannot believe that I could be recovering considering a hole was cut into my chest, a foreign object was put into my body, two wires were threaded through a vein into my heart with 2 screws being inserted into my heart with the attached wires.

Could it be that teaching is a medicine that is healing me?????????? ???

I mentioned or taught the Faith to about 20 different staff there. I have promises that some will pull up the web site. One went right to the hospital's computer and pulled up Bahai.org and he was very touched and last night he came to my room and we talked for over an hour. He wanted to come again tonight. But I was ready to go home.

It seems logical to me that I was responding to God's call to make teaching the "Dominating passion of my life."

Love you,
J. Richard Hoff

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Response to persecutions: Single-minded dedication to the prosecution of the Five Year Plan

May this excerpt from today's momentous message from the Universal House of Justice marking the Anniversary the interment by 'Abdu'l-Baha of the sacred remains of the Bab in their permanent resting place on God's holy mountain, inspire us to still greater sacrifice in fulfilling our sacred responsibilities for our beloved Cause -

"All of us long for the alleviation of [the] trials and tribulations [of the friends in Iran].  What we must realise is that this longing may best be expressed through single-minded dedication to the prosecution of the Five Year Plan.  All of us then should seize the opportunities that present themselves for the advancement of the Cause, confident that the victories won will bring abiding joy to the members of the long-suffering, renowned community in the native land of the Blessed Beauty."

http://www.bahainews.ca/en/090321-naw-ruz


The Universal House of Justice

21 March 2009


To the Baha'is of the World


This Naw-Ruz marks the centenary of one of the outstanding events in the Apostolic Age of the Baha'i Dispensation, the interment by 'Abdu'l-Baha of the sacred remains of the Bab in their permanent resting place on God's holy mountain. In the words of 'Abdu'l-Baha: "The most joyful tidings is this, that the holy, the luminous body of the Bab ... after having for sixty years been transferred from place to place, by reason of the ascendancy of the enemy, and from fear of the malevolent, and having known neither rest nor tranquillity has, through the mercy of the Abha Beauty, been ceremoniously deposited, on the day of Naw-Ruz, within the sacred casket, in the exalted Shrine on Mt. Carmel."


In commemoration of that triumph of the Cause, the members of the Universal House of Justice, accompanied by the members of the International Teaching Centre, have today offered prayers of thanksgiving in the Shrine of the Bab on behalf of the worldwide Baha'i community, expressing gratitude for the unfailing divine protection vouchsafed to the Cause of God. In their solemn contemplation, their hearts were stirred as they recalled the indelible image of the Master left to posterity when, on this day a hundred years ago, having with His own hands laid that peerless Trust in its final place of repose, He rested His head upon the edge of the blessed casket of the Bab, and "sobbing aloud, wept with such a weeping that all those who were present wept with Him". They remembered, too, the manifold obstacles with which He had been confronted in constructing this sacred edifice and His unbounded relief at having accomplished one of the principal objectives of His Ministry.


A century ago, the Faith was emerging from a period of severe crisis during which the incarceration of 'Abdu'l-Baha by His inveterate antagonists in the Ottoman Empire had been renewed, a grievous assault on the unity of the Cause had been launched by the Covenant-breakers, and an upsurge in the persecution of the heroic Persian believers had produced a fresh wave of sacrifice. In the immediate future there lay dazzling victories. The strenuous and fate-laden journeys of 'Abdu'l-Baha to the western world would release incalculable spiritual powers destined to give rise to unprecedented progress of the Faith in the American and European continents He visited. The Tablets of the Divine Plan would set in motion processes designed to bring about, in due course, the spiritual transformation of the planet. The Will and Testament of 'Abdu'l-Baha would establish the basis for a future world order.


Today the Cause of God is again confronted by cruel and relentless opponents seeking in vain to eradicate it in the land of its birth. However, this is occurring in a world far different from that of a hundred years ago, when the Faith was largely unknown and its defenders were few. From all parts of the world the followers of Baha'u'llah appeal for justice, while providing, in the example of their lives, compelling evidence of the absurdity of the accusations levelled against their Iranian brethren. In this appeal they are joined by fair-minded people of all backgrounds, including thousands of Iranians who express their concern at the denial of the human rights of their Baha'i compatriots.


The sacrifices of the Bab and the dawn-breakers of the Cause are yielding abundant fruit. Energized and confident, the followers of the Greatest Name throughout the world have mobilized their resources in a vast and concerted endeavour to offer the healing balm of Baha'u'llah's Teachings to the multitudes of humanity. The magnificent progress achieved over the past century demonstrates the invincible power with which the Cause is endowed. It is but a portent of the ultimate realization of the oneness of humankind.


[signed: The Universal House of Justice]



The Art of Teaching Heart-to-Heart: A comment

This edifying comment on the question of the need for those accepting the Faith to sign declaration cards was posted by our experienced teacher-friend Richard to the Yahoo! newsgroup "gnats into Eagles" on 19 March. Used with his kind permission.


The writings state we should deliver the Message in a simple language addressed to the heart. The writings state we should teach in such a manner that "the seeker should SPONTANEOUSLY be IMPELLED to embrace the Faith."

Over the 48 years I have been a Baha'i I have worked at learning to put these factors into a spiritual context of presenting the Faith.

I have well educated people with good minds just sit and nod in agreement and allow me to enroll them without coments or questions. I felt their mind shut off and they were in a spiritual condition that felt so very right with them.I could see the body language as they leaned forward and some touched my hand. When asked if I could bring them into the Faith they said yes. They never saw the card and when it was present to them for a signature they put their name on it in what seemed such a natural thing to do. Now remember many asked many questions! It happened to different people in different ways.

Our society says, don't trust anyone, don't sign any thing till you ckeck it out with a lawyer.

The Guardian's wife said, she would never sign that enrollment card that stated, "I will obey [the Baha'i] laws and institutions."

Many Baha'i National Spiritual Assemblies have never had an enrollment card to be signed. It is a U.S.-thing. Sign them up!!!!!!!!!

I have had a number of special people who have accepted the Faith turn 180 degrees away from any futher involvement when they were asked to sign up!!!

The signing up changes the dynamic from Heart to Heart to a legalistic or should I wait to learn all about the laws and institution before I sign. It turns into into a "head" [rather than a "heart"] trip.

Now remember I get enrollments each year and with the exception of Natives which you don't have to have a card signed, and I have had to get cards signed all my Baha'i life.

Love,
"A spiritual-accepting enrollment-getting Baha'i"
Richard

A further of his perceptive comments (of 20 March) which highlights an effective attitude in teaching the Faith:

"I find when I have warm feelings about a situation that I can communicate with whoever it is in a more effective manner. So I resist thinking about anything negative about what is going on. I just look at what I can praise."


Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Flexibility re card signature in declaration process

Useful guidelines from the U.S. National Assembly on the process of registering those declaring their faith in Bahá'u'lláh - as relayed in the Yahoo! group "gnats into Eagles."


The Regional Council [for the Southern States] recently received additional clarification regarding the new "registration cards" and processes for registering a new youth or adult believer.

The National Spiritual Assembly [of the United States] no longer requires the signature of a new believer on the card if he/she has accepted Baha'u'llah as the Manifestation of God for this age. The teacher of the new believer can
fill out the card for him/her and quickly pass it along to the involved Local Spiritual Assembly. The new believer can sign the card if he wishes to but it is not required.

If the new believer is registering his/her children or junior youth, the parent's signature is still required.

This is a significant change in our processes for teaching and we encourage you to consult on this and relay this information onto your teachers in the field. The Regional Council will also send correspondence to the Local Spiritual Assemblies to this effect.

Loving regards,

[C.M.]

Assistant Secretary for Cluster Advancement
Regional Bahá'í Council of the Southeastern States

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Core activites aspect of Baha'i peace education

A concise presentation of the Core Activities

Integrated into the Faith's ongoing community development, and central to the expansion and consolidation of the Faith:

Referred to as the Core Activities of the Baha'i community, they constitute a four-fold process of community development for peace involving small community study circles, devotional gatherings, neighborhood moral and spiritual education classes for children, and gatherings for youth. Learning is facilitated by local community members who complete tutor training programs and subsequently engage the wider community in creative, culturally appropriate applications of development activities. They are described in more detail in Table 1. The Core Activity initiative began in Colombia some 20 years ago and has since spread to over 100 countries in all four continents. Local, regional, national and international statistics and anecdotal summaries on the progress of the Core Activities are gathered every three months from all Baha'i communities around the world. From the local to the international level, statistics and lessons learned are analyzed and used for increased understanding, to stimulate areas of promising growth and to encourage local human resource development. Anecdotal data is compiled thematically into regular international circulars informing the Baha'i community around the world about progress made towards community development for a peaceful world.


Table 1: Core Activities

Activity

Goal

Ruhi Study Circles

To build communities of learning composed of Baha'is and their friends, colleagues and associates, that promote individual and collective spiritual transformation through study and practical application of thematically grouped sacred texts. Two of the seven units of study are devoted to the spiritual education of children and youth, an understanding of their spiritual destiny in the processes of peace building, and encouragement of all youth and adults in the community to mentor, teach and value children.

Neighborhood children's classes

To engage Baha'i and non-Baha'i children and their parents in moral and spiritual transformation and competency development through service learning.

Junior youth gatherings

To engage adolescents of all or no religious affiliation, between the ages of 11-14, in peer clusters of positive influence and mutual support. Junior youth animators are frequently young adults who work creatively to address issues of identity, moral leadership and build skill in contributing towards solving local problems. The young adults also serve the function of role models for the younger teens and provide them with alternatives to risky behaviors while developing confidence and leadership capacity.

Devotional gatherings

Devotional gatherings. Goal: To provide neighborhood forums for people of diverse backgrounds and beliefs, to say prayers together, read from sacred writings and discuss spiritual themes in a collaborative and artistic manner.

Each of these four themes operates in local, regional, national and international settings. They involve a unique blend of structure and agency balancing guidance from Baha’i Sacred Texts, administration and mentorship from Baha’i Institutions who regularly seek dialogue and feedback opportunities to inform decision making, and individual initiatives that are encouraged and supported by the Institutions.

From the document Baha'i Faith and Peace Education, by Marie Gervais, University of Alberta Canada

[DOC] Baha'i Faith and Peace Education chapter

What are Core activities? What are Baha'i Core activities?