Baha’i Perspectives

nadim October 31st, 2008

Recently, I’ve made friends with a vending machine.

The story goes something like this. Over the past few years I’ve done a fair deal of travelling back and forth. And there is one airport, in particular, that I’ve had to pass through often.

The typical routine is a pre-dawn landing (because as we all know airlines love to schedule flights at the worst hours — the joke must be on us), followed by a brisk walk down to the immigration line. As I try to get the blood flowing to the legs again and shake the drowsiness from my head, my thoughts turn towards the comfort of a warm bed. Mmmmm, wouldn’t that be amazing right now? My strides lengthen, as I figure that the quicker I walk, the quicker I’ll be out of here. Then, as I round the corner, the sign comes into view and shakes me from my stupor. “Foreign Passports“. The line I have to stand in. My progress is halted. Sneaking a uneasy peak over at the immigration officer, I try to figure out what to expect — she looks part impatient, part bored, and part annoyed that she ended up doing the dreaded graveyard shift. Eventually it’s my turn and I “step up to the plate”.

“Good morning!” I say, trying my best to sound alive, hoping to demonstrate through my cheery demeanour that the officer has absolutely nothing to worry about. The reply is a somewhat disinterested yawn, as she slides my passport towards her. And then, as if by magic, the facial expression changes… not in a dramatic way but quite noticeably nonetheless. As she thumbs her way page-by-page through my passport, I catch a glimpse of what’s going on in her mind… “Wait…what’s going on here? In front of me stands a Middle-Eastern looking guy with a passport from a strange African country whose name I can’t pronounce. And he even speaks English. Something is clearly not right.”

The rest of the routine is pretty standard. She picks up the receiver and dials a number, mumbles some words to the person on the other end. “Someone is coming to speak to you,” she says. That’s my cue to turn around and wait for this individual to appear, following which we amble off to the small room, the room with the chairs, the TV… and the vending machine.

The lengthy pause before questioning gives me ample time to toss some thoughts around my head. It’s fair to say my feelings are mixed. I neither feel angry nor victimized, but at the same time something just doesn’t sit right. In a society where human safety is far from guaranteed, where just a few drops of liquid carried by a person with evil intentions can cause untold damage, it makes perfect sense to have precautionary measures in place. Certainly, most people who travel by air have that tiny (sometimes great) concern that their plane will be the next one that is “targeted”, and security measures do provide a certain peace-of-mind, for which I am grateful. There’s no debating that point.

However, it is the application of these measures, or rather the assumptions that are made in defining them, that are fast becoming outdated. How is it possible, I ask myself, that in the brief moment when someone is standing in front of the immigration officer, an accurate judgment call can be made about a person’s background/character/threat level?

How would this person know, for example, that when I was a child attending spiritual education classes, one of the first quotes I memorized was Baha’u'llah’s statement: “Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch“, a quote that instills in one’s heart a love for the diversity, yet essential oneness of all people? A quote that says that this picture of society:
is nicer than this one: .

Of course, they would never know this, so instead the judgment call is based on superficial factors, like a name, facial hair (aka the 5 o’clock shadow) and some arbitrary lines drawn on a map. I should imagine that as time goes by this is going to become much harder to enforce; as we see an increase in the number of 1/2 Togolese, 1/2 Indonesians holding Brazilian passports, or 1/4 Serbian, 1/4 Pakistani, 1/2 Bolivians holding Irish passports, this discriminatory line of thinking is due for a major reassessment.

As racial and national lines become blurred, it stops making sense to continue using them as the standard for imposing travel restrictions. I mean, we may as well use the Happy Planet Index as our standard. Picture this scene…

Officer – “Sir, you need a visa to enter this country.”
Traveller – “How can that be? My passport says Norway, we have a powerful economy.”
Officer – “We only want happy people in our country and it says here your country is 115th on the index. You need to go back to your country and apply for a visa.”
Traveller – “But generally I’m quite a happy person.”
Officer – “Sorry sir. Those are the regulations.”
Continue Reading >

Tags: immigration, oneness, race, world-citizen

• General Interest , Society
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Baha'i Perspectives October 28th, 2008

Is anyone actually in control anymore? Financial markets continue to stagger, major banks try to pull back from the brink of collapse, and ordinary people everywhere are bracing themselves for tough economic times ahead. On his blog, ‘Where the World’s Going‘, Robert Weinberg muses on the significance of these happenings in the light of recent history. The conclusion? Traditional power structures have shifted, are shifting and will continue to evolve into the future. Here is the full text of the article…

“Who is writing the future?” was the question heading a statement issued by the Bahá’í International Community in February 1999 that explored the challenges facing humanity at the end of the 20th century.

Now, almost a full decade since this perceptive document first appeared, this question seems more relevant than ever. With share markets continuing to plummet amid fears of a world wide recession, the impotence of our current leaders to take charge of the situation is clearly visible to the entire planet. And for the first time, they have been prepared to admit it.

Not surprisingly, the world is alarmed.

Earlier this week, in a powerful letter to the Bahá’ís of the world, the Universal House of Justice wrote that, in a short span of time, “financial structures once thought to be impregnable have tottered and world leaders have shown their inability to devise more than temporary solutions, a failing to which they increasingly confess.”

“People desperately want someone to get a grip,” commented Jonathan Freedland in The Guardian on 10 October, “The realisation is dawning that this is not just a financial or economic crisis, but a democratic crisis – the people and their representatives have little or no control over what affects them directly.”

More than sixty years ago, Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í faith observed that we are living in an age which is witnessing a dual phenomenon: “The first signalizes the death pangs of an order, effete and godless…The second proclaims the birth pangs of an Order…within Whose administrative structure an embryonic civilization, incomparable and world-embracing, is imperceptibly maturing.”

“The one is being rolled up, and is crashing in oppression, bloodshed, and ruin,” noted Shoghi Effendi, “The other opens up vistas of a justice, a unity, a peace, a culture, such as no age has ever seen.” The process of the rolling up of the old order began with the revelation of Bahá’u’lláh and his announcement that power had been seized from both “kings and ecclesiastics.”

The rest is history. Empires were toppled. Kings lost their thrones. The clergy of all faiths were no longer able to exert their moral influence on the masses.

Economic structures are now coming face to face with the same prospect that met the rulers and religious leaders of the late 19th and much of the 20th century. The wresting of power from the hands of the few who have asserted their right to exercise control over the lives and minds of the many is continuing.

Another prescient statement from the pen of Shoghi Effendi anticipates the emergence of a “mechanism of world inter-communication will be devised, embracing the whole planet, freed from national hindrances and restrictions, and functioning with marvellous swiftness and perfect regularity.”

It is now possible for any citizen of the planet who has a computer and internet technology to communicate with anyone else who has access. Blogs and online forums give every participant a voice to share his view of the world. Even large media outlets are increasingly linking to grass roots websites that can better reflect the voices and views of the public.

Digital cameras and video technology, coupled with the ease of posting and circulating pictures and home-made films, has enabled every one to display their creativity. Citizens caught up in incidents of major import become the journalists, texting their video and pictures to conventional news media or posting them on their own platforms. Unsigned bands can become major stars, freed from the control of major record companies. The works of authors can be read throughout the planet without the rigmarole of acquiring agents and publishers, the agony of serial rejection letters or the environmental nuisance of destroying trees.

The ability of centralized providers of information to dictate the news agenda – or spin the truth to reinforce a particular view – is giving way to the power of everyman to share his own personal perception of reality to a global audience, “freed from national hindrances and restrictions.”

Such a transfer of power from the minority into the hands of the masses, spanning as it does much of the last century and accelerating with every passing day, calls to mind the passage in the Koran, that “The mountains, firm though you may think them, will pass away like clouds.”

“However great the turmoil,” it says in Who is Writing the Future?, “the period into which humanity is moving will open to every individual, every institution, and every community on earth unprecedented opportunities to participate in the writing of the planet’s future.”

“Those are the minarets of the West,” observed ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, sailing into New York City in 1912, witnessing the skyscrapers of Manhattan’s financial district. With what prayer, should the muezzins of Wall Street, be calling the faithful now?

Tags: economics, financial crisis, integration/disintegration

• Baha'i Concepts , News & Current Affairs , Society
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ronnie October 24th, 2008

So you have just taken the red pill in Part 1 and hopefully opened up your inner eye to reality, thus beginning your journey.

So now what?

In the film ‘The Matrix,’ after making that choice, Neo embarks on a process that is the acquiring of Knowledge…..in this case, one of the first things he learns is ‘Kung Fu.’ Or at least he thinks he learns it. Watch scene here

He then practices this new found skill before using it out in the material world, where he almost dies in the process.

Soon after this, he really learns it.

This is part of the journey of the soul.

Baha’u'llah, founder of the Baha’i Faith, talks about the journey of the soul through seven stages.

He uses poetry to describe the stages of the soul’s journey, in the style of 12th Century Sufi poet Farid al-Din Attar, as used in the Conference of the Birds.

The seven stages of the journey of the soul are called Valleys, and thus the imagery is that of a seeker making a journey through a series of valleys. Thus the book is called ‘The Seven Valleys.’

The first Valley is called the Valley of Search, the Second Valley, the Valley of Love…..

The third Valley is the Valley of Knowledge.

In the Matrix, Neo begins his journeying with the Valley of Search by choosing the red pill.

I guess the film skipped out the Valley of Love because it wasn’t commercially viable (or more likely because it’s just a film and not a comprehensive religious text).

The Knowledge sought in the third Valley is the Knowledge of God and not one based on conventional learning. The seeker begins to understand and find wisdom when faced with pain, suffering, tests and trials. About the Valley of Knowledge, Baha’u'llah says:

With inward and outward eyes he witnesseth the mysteries of resurrection in the realms of creation and the souls of men, and with a pure heart apprehendeth the divine wisdom in the endless Manifestations of God. In the ocean he findeth a drop, in a drop he beholdeth the secrets of the sea.

(Baha’u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 11)

He also uses his newly acquired skills, constantly learning new ones and improving the ones he has.

These ‘skills,’ from a Baha’i point of view are universal religious truths known as ‘virtues’ and are used to battle the forces of darkness, which in reality is the human ego, symbolically represented as Satan or Agent Smith in this case.

Armed with the power of Thy name nothing can ever hurt me, and with Thy love in my heart all the world’s afflictions can in no wise alarm me.

(Baha’u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u'llah, p. 208)

We may read about virtues all day long and Neo may download as much as he wants about Kung Fu, however, until we apply it, through service to others, we will not really understand and learn.

The ‘Kung Fu’ we need is Patience, Justice, Humility, Truthfulness, Love, Generosity, and the list goes on (for a more comprehensive list click here)

When confronted with Agent Hate, we destroy him with Love. Agent War is stopped with Peace. Agent Greed is neutralised with Generosity.

I’m sure you get the idea. Sounds easy, but we know it’s not.

If ignorance is bliss, what is knowledge, pain?

I know what you’re thinking, ’cause right now I’m thinking the same thing. Actually, I’ve been thinking it ever since I got here: Why oh why didn’t I take the BLUE pill?

(Cypher, the ‘Judas’ of the Matrix.)

Like Judas, he too was tempted by the inner promptings of the human ego (Agent Smith), betraying Neo and the life of hardship for an apparently easier life of material happiness. (watch scene here)

Baha’u'llah, in The Hidden Words, says:

….Busy not thyself with this world, for with fire We test the gold, and with gold We test Our servants.

So we have to bring ourselves to account and ask, what’s our gold? What’s our kryptonite? Since we’re conveniently on the subject of kryptonite, we can talk about other superheroes briefly. Continue reading >

Tags: afterlife, reality, soul

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iman October 20th, 2008

Faith.  Very powerful, yet equally challenging to practice with consistency. The concept of faith is conveyed, in its basic form, by philosophies such as “The Secret” where ‘forces of attraction’ are acknowledged, yet the origin of these forces is ignored. Quoting The Secret’s web site: “Without exception, every human being has the ability to transform any weakness or suffering into strength, power, perfect peace, health, and abundance.”

Many decades ago, Abdu’l-Bahá explained the secret behind The Secret: “As ye have faith so shall your powers and blessings be“.

One should strive to have faith that, using the teachings of God for today as our beacon, no obstacles will obscure the endpoint of our journey, will make us “content with the decree of God,” and will give us the perception to see “war as peace“, and find “in death the secrets of everlasting life“.  In a world ridden by war and conflict, merely imagining a world without conflict defies the logic created by our finite minds, as a result of this being our only experience, our only benchmark.   Baha’u'llah mentions seeing “war as peace”. This seems almost unthinkable given the tragedies the world has witnessed over time.

So in what way can we view “war as peace”?  To imagine the unimaginable requires faith, but who’s to say the unimaginable is even possible?  If we view God as the Creator of all things, our Protector, and trust that He has and will continue to provide us with guidance through his Manifestations, herein lies the unshakable essence of faith.  Most recently, the teachings of Baha’u'llah hold the solutions to personal and global woes, the fruits of which will appear over time.  The speed at which this happens though, depends on us.

The more we suffer, the more opportunity we have to increase our faith.  Often, time binds us to situation and our faith is tested.  However, as time passes grief turns into happiness and we wonder why we were so troubled about our concerns in the first place.  This cycle repeats itself and we grow stronger in our faith, but only should we choose to.

The ability to “see the end in the beginning” can go a long way in filling our reservoir of faith:

…since the end was veiled to him, he moaned and made his plaint in the beginning. Yet those who journey in the garden land of knowledge, because they see the end in the beginning, see peace in war and friendliness in anger.

(Baha’u'llah, The Seven Valleys, p. 13)

As we witness injustice and grief all around us, it becomes a lot easier to adopt a defeatist attitude than to have faith, to place one’s complete trust in God, and then act towards a positive solution.  By striving towards greater steadfastness of faith, our mindset becomes more positive and detached, and contentment is made more readily accessible:

It is such faith which sufficeth above all the things that exist on the earth, whereas no created thing on earth besides faith would suffice thee…If thou art a believer, thy faith shall be sufficient for thee above all things that exist on earth, even though thou possess nothing.

(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 122)

The next post will draw to a close this series on Happiness with some final thoughts.

Tags: faith, happiness

• Baha'i Concepts , General Interest
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geoffrey October 17th, 2008

When looking at the collective history of Man, when peering through the ages, we may find those pivotal moments that appear periodically which have served as catalysts for the advancement of the world.

Baha’is believe that throughout history God has sent Messengers to guide mankind to its next level of development; have come to bring about the order of the world in ever increasing and complex modes of organization.

Inevitably, though, due to the weakness of Man, we reject these Prophets and turn away.

I know, O my Lord, neither their reasoning with which they have acknowledged Thee and believed in Thy signs, nor their argument whereby they have repudiated Thy sovereignty. Every time I call them to Thee and say: ‘O people! Consider the utterances of the Lord your God which are in your possession and those that have been sent down from the heaven of His will and power,’ they cavil at Thee, and turn their backs to Thee, though — as Thou art aware — each of the words that have gone out of the mouth of Thy will sheddeth the fragrance of the breaths of Thy mercy.

(Baha’u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u'llah, p. 179)

Hollow, empty echoes meet my ears.

The only sounds of my soft footsteps.

My breath catches,

And I feel pressed for air.

Suddenly, I am paralyzed by the pain of sorrow.

When it should drive me to love,

I am overwhelmed by fear and loss.

My Ears are stopped,

And I cannot hear the Ancient Song.

One sung by Poets and seers,

Ever heard at the breaking of Dawn.

How do I measure the seasons of life?

How may I test the strength of love’s bonds?

Only when every action of Man’s life,

Every thought, every whisper,

Has become an expression of Faith and Reason,

Will Man be able to love,

Without understanding what is loved.

Then we may see the changeless face of God.

For Day will come,

But first the sun must fall.

And with each winter in Man’s heart,

A single Seed is set.

This is the rebirth of the Heavenly Tree.

How often is it neglected and misshapen?

How often is it cast aside,

Where It’s splinters are used as fuel

To feed the fires of hate?

Or to be left withering,

As it falls in a graceful decay,

Devoid of purpose and meaning.

I have within my own Heart

The universal life of Mankind.

Its joy and hope,

Its pain and mystery.

I contain the fertile field,

Where a fruit laden Tree sinks its roots.

With leaves upturned

It catches the light and sustaining rain

That falls ceaselessly

On those that have let it grow there.

Tags: faith, poetry, religion

• Arts & Culture , Baha'i Concepts
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Baha'i Perspectives October 15th, 2008

Today, the contributors of Baha’i Perspectives link arms with thousands of bloggers around the world to participate in Blog Action Day. The theme of this year’s campaign is poverty, and the purpose of this initiative is “to change the conversation that day, to raise awareness, start a global discussion and add momentum to an important cause.” As we examine the world around us and see the growing divide between rich and poor, as more people slip below the poverty line, it becomes vital to identify, once and for all, the root causes of material poverty, and then face these challenges head on.

The Baha’i Writings identify the causes and prescribe the steps we must take towards attaining a remedy. It is no overnight solution – in fact, nothing short of an almighty shift in conscience and behaviour will get us there – but get there we will.

We draw attention to three pieces. The first is a quote from Abdu’l-Baha in Foundations of World Unity, likening the world to a single human family in which the qualities of empathy and kindness are of utmost importance.

Abdu’l-Baha says:

Although the body politic is one family yet because of lack of harmonious relations some members are comfortable and some in direst misery, some members are satisfied and some are hungry, some members are clothed in most costly garments and some families are in need of food and shelter. Why? Because this family lacks the necessary reciprocity and symmetry. This household is not well arranged. This household is not living under a perfect law. All the laws which are legislated do not ensure happiness. They do not provide comfort. Therefore a law must be given to this family by means of which all the members of this family will enjoy equal well-being and happiness.

Is it possible for one member of a family to be subjected to the utmost misery and to abject poverty and for the rest of the family to be comfortable? It is impossible unless those members of the family be senseless, atrophied, inhospitable, unkind. Then they would say, “Though these members do belong to our family — let them alone. Let us look after ourselves. Let them die. So long as I am comfortable, I am honored, I am happy — this my brother — let him die. If he be in misery let him remain in misery, so long as I am comfortable. If he is hungry let him remain so; I am satisfied. If he is without clothes, so long as I am clothed, let him remain as he is. If he is shelterless, homeless, so long as I have a home, let him remain in the wilderness.”

Such utter indifference in the human family is due to lack of control, to lack of a working law, to lack of kindness in its midst. If kindness had been shown to the members of this family surely all the members thereof would have enjoyed comfort and happiness.

And now here are two snippets from our archives on the subject of poverty, with links through to the full articles. The first analyzes the multitude of factors related to poverty. There are more here than one would at first imagine…

The Baha’i International Community has not only launched a new web site, but has also recently released a statement entitled “Eradicating Poverty: Moving Forward as One”. The statement was developed following consultations with UN agencies, NGOs and Baha’i communities in various countries.

Before continuing, here’s a little game to test just how much we think we know about factors relating to poverty. Keep the answers in your head or note them down on a piece of paper — you may be referring back to them later. The rules are easy. Simply think of how each of the factors below relates to the eradication of poverty:

• Governance
• Justice and Human Rights
• Individual Responsibility
• Gender
• Economic activity
• Extremes of wealth
• Sustainable development
• Agriculture
• Employment
• Knowledge
• Religion

I bet some of those factors are not what traditionally would have come to mind (we usually only think in terms of $$$, right?). As noted in the statement, “The mechanisms of poverty eradication have long been defined in primarily material terms. Indeed, the central pillar of the international community’s poverty alleviation efforts has been the transfer of financial resources.” Read on…

Next, take a look at this article, which considers the implications of the world food crisis on the fight against poverty. In so doing, the call is made for a frank reassessment of the validity of prevailing economic theories:

There is something clearly wrong in the economic system of the world today and it is the most vulnerable who are having to pay the price. Since the start of 2006, the average world price for rice has risen by 217 percent, wheat by 136 percent, maize by 125 percent and soybeans by 107 percent…

In our Economics 101 lectures we were taught about Adam Smith’s “invisible hand“, about comparative advantage and the importance of free trade. By the time we made it to post-graduate courses, our lecturers could no longer hide the fact that Messers Smith, Keynes and Friedman did not have it all worked out, and that in fact “free market forces” did not have the power to fix everything…

Addressing the problem of the extremes between wealth and poverty, the Universal House of Justice said this, in their 1985 message to the world The Promise of World Peace:

“The inordinate disparity between rich and poor, a source of acute suffering, keeps the world in a state of instability, virtually on the brink of war. Few societies have dealt effectively with this situation. The solution calls for the combined application of spiritual, moral and practical approaches. A fresh look at the problem is required, entailing consultation with experts from a wide spectrum of disciplines, devoid of economic and ideological polemics, and involving the people directly affected in the decisions that must urgently be made… The advantage of the part in a world society is best served by promoting the advantage of the whole.” Read on…

The organizers of Blog Action Day have done a marvellous job in opening up a dialogue on this issue. We sincerely hope that this initiative can provide the necessary impetus for the “consultation with experts from a wide spectrum of disciplines” called for by the Universal House of Justice in the passage above.

Tags: poverty

• Baha'i Concepts , Events , Society
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nava October 12th, 2008

“In this world we are influenced by two sentiments, Joy and Pain.”

According to ‘Abdu’l-Baha, every human being, from monarch to peasant, wealthy to impoverished, from darkest brown to palest beige, is influenced by joy and pain.  The second part seems obvious.  We’ve all grieved.  But often we forget the first.  Especially in times of grief, how easily we forget that joy is frequently right around the bend.

BBC News recently published an article about fears of escalating suicide rates in Japan due to the economic downturn.  The article was published on October 6, and the economic travail ransacking global markets has only gotten sharper.  The collapse of some major institutions and fragile condition of others reminds us that even the most elite are vulnerable to loss, are subject to affliction.

Such is this mortal abode — a storehouse of afflictions and suffering. It is negligence that binds man to it for no comfort can be secured by any soul in this world, from monarch down to the least subject. If once it should offer man a sweet cup, a hundred bitter ones will follow it and such is the condition of this world. The wise man therefore does not attach himself to this mortal life and does not depend upon it; even at some moments he eagerly wishes death that he may thereby be freed from these sorrows and afflictions. Thus it is seen that some, under extreme pressure of anguish, have committed suicide.

Abdu’l-Baha

Yukio Shige spends his nights patrolling Tojimbo Cliffs, a popular suicide venue for many in Japan, hoping to persuade another would-be jumper to step back.

Life on the edge.  It’s hard.

According to Yukio, many of the men he speaks to want someone to talk them out of their plan to end their lives.  They just need someone to listen.  Even a stranger will do, as demonstrated by the fact that Yukio has managed to persuade over a hundred fifty people to step back.  The article explains that:

“For a lot of them it’s a cry for help.  They are really hoping someone will stop them before they take their own lives.” Sometimes grown men burst into tears in front of him, he says. “I say to them ‘You must be in a lot of pain, tell me what happened’.”

Volumes could be written about the psychology involved in the decision to end one’s own life, but the reality is, life is hard.  Life is painful and some do not believe themselves capable of withstanding it.  It’s not true, though.  We all have the capacity to endure whatever comes along our path.  Perhaps if we really understood our purpose in life-a journey of growing closer to our Lord, our Beloved-we would not be perturbed by the pain that we know will inevitably visit, and revisit, us.  As explained in the article about faith in times of crisis, tests, which often bring us sorrow, are the means through which the soil is ploughed.  Tests are an important part of growth, a way of building and revealing our nobility of character.

Perhaps what is most tragic about suicide is the fact that it won’t actually end the suffering of the grieved person who committed it.

Whoever commits suicide endangers his soul, and will suffer spiritually as a result in the other worlds beyond.

(From a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi)

More to the point, it simply does not work.  Grief is not a state of the body, it is a condition of the soul.  The soul is not destroyed even when its body is.  ‘Abdu’l-Baha explains that:

The spirit is changeless, indestructible. The progress and development of the soul, the joy and sorrow of the soul, are independent of the physical body.

Thus it stands to reason that by killing our body, we’re destroying the wrong thing.  The body manifests the pain, but is not the source of it.  Killing it will not kill the grief.  So now the sorrow for him who has ended his life only amasses. Continue Reading >

Tags: death, suicide, tests

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