Baha'i Perspectives

iman January 27th, 2010

Rapid technological leaps forward in the last 10 years mean mankind is closer than ever before to knowing whether extra-terrestrial life exists in our galaxy, one of Britain’s leading scientists said on Tuesday.

It’s been a fascinating week in the world of astronomy. The article continues:

“Now we know that most of the stars, like the sun, are likely to have planetary systems around them and we have every reason to suspect that many of them have planets that are rather like our earth,” Rees told Reuters in an interview.

He said great strides in space search techniques over the last decade had removed one of the big obstacles in finding other worlds, and possibly even complex life forms, in our Milky Way galaxy of more than a 100 billion stars.

“Indeed, we live in very exciting times,” he said.

What rings in the mind of Baha’is are the prophetic utterances of Baha’u'llah from well over a century ago, which not only assure us that many stars have planets, but that they all do:

The learned men, that have fixed at several thousand years the life of this earth, have failed, throughout the long period of their observation, to consider either the number or the age of the other planets. Consider, moreover, the manifold divergencies that have resulted from the theories propounded by these men. Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute.

(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah)

It is indeed exciting to observe how the path of scientific discovery re-enforces the Baha’i writings. Next, perhaps scientists will find an Earth-like planet, or discover creatures on these planets, or even change our perception of the word “creatures”? I wait for that day, with eager anticipation.

Tags: planets, stars

• General Interest , News & Current Affairs
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nadim January 15th, 2010

It has been an icy cold start to the new decade in England. Arctic winds have been blowing in from Scandinavia, bringing with them snow, sleet and sub-zero temperatures – and it has gone on for an unusually long stretch of time according to the locals. In spite of this, life carries on as normal for the majority of people. Barring the occasional transport delay, the slip and fall on ice (slippery wheels if you are driving), or the minor inconvenience of having to shop around for an extra heater, everything proceeds as expected.

Thousands of miles to the east and to the west, the cold of tribulation is a stark reality. To the east, the sham trial behind closed doors of the seven members of the Baha’i Administrative Committee of Iran, arrested and imprisoned by the Islamic government in 2008, merely for their religious beliefs. To the west, the heart-wrenching devastation caused by the Haiti disaster and the scramble to save as many lives as possible before it becomes too late.

Although outwardly cataclysms are hard to understand and to endure, yet there lies a great wisdom behind them which appears later. All the visible material events are inter-related with invisible spiritual forces. The infinite phenomena of creation are as interdependent as the links of a chain.

When certain links become rusty, they are broken by unseen forces, to be replaced by newer and better ones. There are certain colossal events which transpire in the world of humanity which are required by the nature of the times. For example, the requirements of winter are cold, snow, hail and rain – but the birds and animals who live for six months, enjoying a short span of life, not realizing the wisdom of winter, chide and make lament and are discontent, saying, “Why this awful frost? Why this hail and storm? Why not the balmy weather? Why not the eternal springtime? Why this injustice on the part of the creator? Why this suffering? What have we done to be meted out with this catastrophe?”

However, those souls who have lived many years and have acquired much experience and have weathered many severe winters realize that in order to enjoy the coming spring they must pass through the cold of winter.

(Abdu’l-Baha : Divine Philosophy)

Tags: Iran, natural disasters

• News & Current Affairs , Reflections
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nooshin January 11th, 2010

You probably won’t be too surprised to read that only 71% of New Year’s resolutions are kept past the second week of the year, and only 46% past June.  Many people (myself included) don’t even bother to make resolutions, certain that they will be broken.  But according to a recent survey, those that actually make resolutions are 10 times more likely to attain their goals than people who don’t.  Perhaps the process of explicitly resolving to change something in your life, and taking concrete steps to do so, makes you more likely to succeed.

Self-awareness is crucial in deciding what needs change.  As spiritual beings, we need to constantly evaluate both our inner and outer lives, and try every day to do better than the day before.  In the Hidden Words, Bahá’u’lláh says:

O SON OF BEING! Bring thyself to account each day ere thou art summoned to a reckoning; for death, unheralded, shall come upon thee and thou shalt be called to give account for thy deeds.

I think the misconception we have is that bringing ourselves to account will necessarily be a depressing exercise, merely deepening our sense of inadequacy and feelings of guilt.  But it doesn’t have to be.  If we see our mistakes, not as failings, but as opportunites for learning and growth, self-evaluation can be empowering.  I think there is a sense of freedom from realizing that yes, I made a mistake, but I have the chance to fix it.  That every morning is a fresh start and that I am not defined by my past.

Also key is the issue of forgiveness.  Sometimes we have to forgive ourselves in order to be able to move on.  But more crucially, we have to show sincere repentance and ask forgiveness from God.  Bahá’u’lláh instructs us as follows:

..when the sinner findeth himself wholly detached and freed from all save God, he should beg forgiveness and pardon from Him. Confession of sins and transgressions before human beings is not permissible, as it hath never been nor will ever be conducive to divine forgiveness. Moreover such confession before people results in one’s humiliation and abasement, and God—exalted be His glory—wisheth not the humiliation of His servants. Verily He is the Compassionate, the Merciful. The sinner should, between himself and God, implore mercy from the Ocean of mercy, beg forgiveness from the Heaven of generosity…

But self-evaluation is not just about identifying mistakes.  We have to give ourselves credit where it’s due, and to build on our strengths.  Having a positive outlook can be so much more powerful than a negative one.  Which is why the following prayer from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is one of my favourite ones:

O God! Refresh and gladden my spirit. Purify my heart. Illumine my powers. I lay all my affairs in Thy hand. Thou art my Guide and my Refuge. I will no longer be sorrowful and grieved; I will be a happy and joyful being. O God! I will no longer be full of anxiety, nor will I let trouble harass me. I will not dwell on the unpleasant things of life.

O God! Thou art more friend to me than I am to myself. I dedicate myself to Thee, O Lord.

Tags: forgiveness, new year, repentance

• Events , Society
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Baha'i Perspectives January 8th, 2010

Two new audiovisual pieces have recently become available for viewing and download.

First, Arising to Serve: Glimpses from 41 Regional Conferences is a DVD capturing the highlights of the regional conferences that took place between November 2008 and March 2009. The scenes are vibrant and inspirational; check it out at www.bahai.org/arising. You can watch the DVD in parts online or download it in it’s entirety.

“Beyond our culture of contest lies a different kind of democracy: gentle, just and… inevitable”. This is the tagline from the recently released documentary entitled Beyond King of the Mountain produced by DoubleTake.tv. The best way to describe it would be to say that it will leave you begging for more! And here is the film below… enjoy it.

Tags: 41 conferences, democracy

• Arts & Culture , General Interest
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