Baha’i Perspectives

nooshin August 15th, 2008

Conventional wisdom regards the teenage years as hellish for everyone concerned: the parents and the teachers as well as the teenagers themselves. It is supposed to be filled with angst and rebellion and a mostly selfish outlook on life. Not unusually, conventional wisdom doesn’t reflect the full picture. What most of us are overlooking is the potential and promise of those formative years.

The education of children and youth is held to be a sacred task in the Baha’i Faith. Our responsibilities to the next generation are clearly defined. In their annual Ridvan message to the Baha’is of the world in 2000, the Universal House of Justice says the following:

Children are the most precious treasure a community can possess, for in them are the promise and guarantee of the future. They bear the seeds of the character of future society which is largely shaped by what the adults constituting the community do or fail to do with respect to children. They are a trust no community can neglect with impunity.

The moral education of children is the focus of Book Three in the sequence of Ruhi books. In Book Five (Releasing the Powers of Junior Youth), the focus shifts to the “junior youth”, those who have outgrown children’s classes, but are still too young to be considered youth. The 2000 Ridvan Message provides this explanation:

Among the young ones in the community are those known as junior youth, who fall between the ages of, say, 12 and 15. They represent a special group with special needs as they are somewhat in between childhood and youth when many changes are occurring within them. Creative attention must be devoted to involving them in programmes of activity that will engage their interests, mold their capacities for teaching and service, and involve them in social interaction with older youth.

All over the world, Baha’i communities are starting to place greater and greater emphasis and attention on the “junior youth”. The characteristics of the youth are described by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá as follows:

After a time he enters the period of youth in which his former conditions and needs are superseded by new requirements applicable to the advance in his degree. His faculties of observation are broadened and deepened, his intelligent capacities are trained and awakened, the limitations and environment of childhood no longer restrict his energies and accomplishments.

The Ruhi Book Five course aims for its participants to become “animators” of the junior youth. The text book explanation of an animator is of “an older person who is a true friend to the youth and can assist them in the development of their capacities”, in a peer group setting. The spiritual explanation is given by ‘Abdu’l-Bahá: “one who traineth them to love“.

It is important to note that the first of the three units in Book Five focuses on the potentialities of the human soul. This helps to underscore for the participants the potentialities, the latent perfections, in each and every child and youth they come into contact with. Some of the quotations used in the book include the following two from ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

First of all, be ready to sacrifice your lives for one another, to prefer the general well-being to your personal well-being. Create relationships that nothing can shake; form an assembly that nothing can break up; have a mind that never ceases acquiring riches that nothing can destroy. If love did not exist, what of reality would remain? It is the fire of the love of God which renders man superior to the animal. Strengthen this superior force through which is attained all the progress in the world.

And the honor and distinction of the individual consist in this, that he among all the world’s multitudes should become a source of social good. Is any larger bounty conceivable than this, that an individual, looking within himself, should find that by the confirming grace of God he has become the cause of peace and well-being, of happiness and advantage to his fellow men? No, by the one true God, there is no greater bliss, no more complete delight.

Tags: Ruhi books, youth

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nadim July 31st, 2008

This video is another gem from DoubleTake.tv, a site that contains a growing collection of short Baha’i-inspired documentaries. Watch how an innovative “white bloke” living on the island of Vanuatu rolls up his sleeves and gets down to finding a homegrown solution to the problem of rising fuel prices.

Finished watching?

Let’s reflect for a moment on the video and then turn our thoughts towards the bigger picture…

The Biofuel Conundrum

Biofuel production is without doubt one hot topic these days. It provokes an entire spectrum of opinions from advocates and critics alike. Having initially been devised as a mechanism to reduce the world’s dependence on crude oil, the mass production of biofuel using food crops has precipitated another crisis — in the form of rocketing food prices and increased global famine. What are the possible reasons for this wretched situation? Was this outcome inevitable, or was it somehow avoidable?

Being a regular user of public transport, I’ve had to endure yet another rise in the base taxi fare, as well as a significant price rise for bus tickets, all in the past month. Clearly, biofuels haven’t lowered fuel prices — not for me anyway — and the trip over to the local grocery store is becoming more and more of a nervous window-shopping experience. So what exactly has gone wrong?

As usual, I dive into the World Wide Web to try and figure things out. A Time magazine article, Solving the Biofuels vs. Food Problem, points out that in 2006 alone the U.S. produced 4.86 billion gallons of corn ethanol. That sounds like a lot, but what does it really mean? Well, United Nations expert Jean Ziegler, explains that it takes the same amount of corn to produce 13 gallons of ethanol as it does to feed a child for one year. Divide 4.86 billion by 13 and we have 374 million starving children who could have been fed, all by a single country!! And this was back in 2006 — I can only imagine the numbers would have shot up by now. Ziegler, clearly exasperated by this situation, goes on to comment:

…the effect of transforming hundreds and hundreds of thousands of tons of maize, of wheat, of beans, of palm oil, into agricultural fuel is absolutely catastrophic for the hungry people… So it’s a crime against humanity… What has to be stopped is… the growing catastrophe of the massacre (by) hunger in the world.

Based on this statistic alone, it would take a foolhardy person to reject Ziegler’s statement outright.

When Baha’u'llah, Prophet Founder of the Baha’i Faith, pronounced that the prevailing world order is “lamentably defective”, need we look any further for proof?

Couldn’t They Have Waited?

Both Ziegler and the author of the Time article state that non-food alternatives for biofuel, such as switchgrass (which is energy-efficient) and Jatropha shrubs (which grow well on poor land), are only a few years away from becoming viable for mass production. The Science Blog reports on an even more promising alternative, a grass called Miscanthus. Why then, do the economically advantaged countries not wait a little while longer? Surely it should be obvious that all this excess corn can quite easily feed the world’s hungry population. Why do these countries ruthlessly trade human lives in order for their citizens to drive a few extra miles on the highway?

In the masterpiece entitled Century of Light, which examines the successes and failures of the 20th century, the The Universal House of Justice explains:

Tragically, what Bahá’ís see in present-day society is unbridled exploitation of the masses of humanity by greed that excuses itself as the operation of “impersonal market forces”… What they find themselves struggling against daily is the pressure of a dogmatic materialism, claiming to be the voice of “science”, that seeks systematically to exclude from intellectual life all impulses arising from the spiritual level of human consciousness.

(Commissioned by The Universal House of Justice, Century of Light, p. 137)

This captures, in essence, what Baha’is believe to be the root cause of humanity’s ills. What is completely disregarded by our present economic and political systems are those universal spiritual qualities spoken of in the Holy Books of the world’s religions — justice, honesty, trustworthiness, generosity, love of one’s neighbour and so on. Indeed, it is puzzling to observe how these guiding principles, which govern the behaviour of righteous individuals across just about every society, are conveniently swept under the rug in debates on international policy.

Having said this, individual transformation, although vital, is alone not enough. It is becoming increasingly urgent for nations to acknowledge that they belong to a single common homeland known as planet Earth, and that the good of the whole can never be achieved without sincerely seeking the best for each and every part. This implies moving from a culture of competition for natural resources towards one of collaboration. The implications of this change of thinking would be nothing short of revolutionary, and revolution, it seems, is precisely what is needed.

Sure, it is easy to pass this off as some fanciful notion and continue seeking the latest popular explanation as to why our world systems are just so volatile. Commonly-heard phrases like “economic downturn”, “instability in the Middle East”, “rising interest rates”, “loss of investor confidence”, “farm subsidies” are forever making the rounds in the media, and people blindly accept these for the very reason that they are impersonal. These phrases, in my opinion, are comfortable to accept because they do not challenge the status quo. They do not challenge ingrained patterns of human and societal behaviour. Instead, all they do is mask the reality that we are governed by a system that has long passed it’s sell-by date; one which is described as “morally and intellectually bankrupt” by The Universal House of Justice. The only solution that will ensure a long-term future of peace and prosperity is spiritual — it can only be spiritual.

But what to do about the biofuel problem?

Ahh, the million dollar question. Obviously there is no such thing as a quick fix. Nevertheless, Baha’is believe that even the most complex economic problems can be solved through the application of spiritual principles. Now, supposing for a moment that Tony Deamer’s coconut fuel initiative in Vanuatu became a candidate for large-scale production. What are some questions that we would hope the Government would ask? What are some suggested potential international guidelines on this matter? Here is a quick list that came to my mind:

• What is the nutritional value of the crop in question? Is it a viable source of food for the world’s population?
• What is the current economic state of the country in question? In what ways can the money saved on importing fuel be channeled towards improving education, health care etc?
• Will the by-products of the fuel extraction process have any worth or be discarded as waste?
• What is the potential environmental impact in terms of greenhouse gas emissions etc?
• How do we “give back” to the land what has been taken from it?

In terms of coconut fuel in Vanuatu, you may find it interesting to read this article, in which Tony Deamer addresses some of the above questions.

Do you have any personal thoughts on this issue?

Tags: development, economics, fuel, materialism

• General Interest , News & Current Affairs , Principles in Action , Society
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nava July 23rd, 2008

If there are indeed “lost” boys and girls out there who refuse to grow up, who waste their days away with idle talk and deedless days, is our society just doomed to perish?  Or is there hope for a flourishing of human affairs once again, a spiritual renaissance, if you will?

I believe it is the latter.  Yes, there is work to be done, and a lot of it.  But it can be done.  It will be done, and we will be reborn.  We will flourish.  We will arise.  So when do we start, and how do we start?

We start…today.  That much should be abundantly clear.  There is no time to waste, not a moment to lose. As our environmental woes amass, moral decadence prevails, depression and suicide rates are on the rise, and materialism infects the cells of society like a terminal cancer, how can we hesitate for even a moment to stand up and make a change?  How can we doubt for even one instant that things are not okay and will never be okay until we get out there and do something? But we can’t do it alone.  It would be foolish to think ourselves capable of transforming this mess we currently live into the promised Kingdom of God on earth on our own.

Fortunately, we have Baha’u'llah.  We have the Revelation of Baha’u'llah.  The teachings that are apropriate for the ills of today.  You see, God sends us Divine Teachers (what many refer to as Prophets, what Bahá’ís term Manifestations or Messengers of God) to guide humanity and draw us nearer to Him. These Manifestations of God do this by bringing us laws and teachings according to our collective capacity as a human race. These laws are both new and the same. They are appropriate for the day in which we live — as every new age has its own ill, and every new ill requires a different medicine, the social teachings change and address the specific “disease” of the time — and the spiritual laws which are eternal and unchanging are renewed rather than rewritten.

This accounts for the varying religions.  There are so many, not because one is right and all the rest are false, but because each authentic religion was right in its own historical context, was necessary for the age in which it was revealed, and is renewed, not lost, when the next Manifestation comes. So essentially, there is only one religion — “eternal in the past, eternal in the future” — though at different times it had different names and different laws. Even different teachers. Much like the child going through the same school, but at each new grade learning newer and more complex ideas, humanity is educated by God in the same progressive and gradual way.

Therefore, we believe that Baha’u'llah, the most recent in this series, has brought the teachings which are appropriate for today. He says:

The All-Knowing Physician hath His finger on the pulse of mankind. He perceiveth the disease, and prescribeth, in His unerring wisdom, the remedy. Every age hath its own problem, and every soul its particular aspiration. The remedy the world needeth in its present-day afflictions can never be the same as that which a subsequent age may require. Be anxiously concerned with the needs of the age ye live in, and center your deliberations on its exigencies and requirements.

Equipped with the teachings of Baha’u'llah, the very elixirs for the diseases of the age, Baha’is the world over are engaged in specific core activities aimed at addressing the root causes which result in the symptoms of these diseases plaguing humanity. Too many organizations and institutions address it the other way around — they address the symptoms, not the cause. This at best postpones further symptoms, but does nothing in the way of truly curing and preventing the problems from reocurring.

We believe in grassroots change. We believe in the power of the individual to arise and make a difference. To be an active agent of social transformation, rather than a passive bystander in the perishing of society, or someone who sits on his or her couch all day feeling depressed about the world but offering nothing more than complaints.

Our core activities include, as a vital component, children’s classes and junior youth classes. These classes aim at infusing these youngsters with morality, all-too lacking and underrated these days, so that they can use their lives for the betterment of society.  They are also expected to engage in service activities as a group so that the love of service, which may not be inherently there, can grow and together, they can gradually learn to be the kind of people who care about more than just their own existences.

We support, encourage, and are participating in social and economic development projects, especially those aimed at helping the under-served in our world have a voice, provide for themselves and their families.

We are working for change.

But, we can’t do it alone. We don’t want to do it alone. We want to work shoulder-to-shoulder with our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends, our friends’ friends — in taking responsibility for our planet and together, rebuilding the world in which we live. Transforming it into that long-awaited Kingdom of God on earth.

Boys and girls, men and women, let’s rise up off our couches.  Put away the video remote control.  Stop checking your Facebook updates.  Forget about who your ex-boyfriend is talking to today.  Let’s not be those lost boys and girls.  Let’s be the agents of change.  Let’s transform ourselves and our planet, and let’s do it today.

Tags: baha'i, childhood, maturity, religion

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negin June 9th, 2008

A sincere longing for being of use and helping one’s surroundings is a natural driving force that most people have. In the Baha’i Faith, love and service to mankind are regarded as “the worthiest and most laudable objects of human endeavor”, through which we can also develop virtues and spiritual qualities within ourselves. In the Baha’i community, the courses of the Ruhi Institute are being used to train individuals to develop skills and attitudes needed to succeed in this endeavour. The courses are offered at the grassroots level and are designed to instill in participants the capacity, as well as the confidence, to embark on service activities aimed at gradually uplifting the wider community.

The Ruhi Institute is an educational system that was originally developed under the guidance of the Baha’i community of Colombia in the 1970s, and is now being used all over the world. Based on the Writings of the Baha’i Faith, the material aims at giving its participants an understanding of the presented topics, not only on a level that generates reflection and analysis, but, more crucially, on a level that facilitates action and change:

O SON OF DUST!

Verily I say unto thee; Of all men the most negligent is he that disputeth idly and seeketh to advance himself over his brother. Say, O brethren! Let deeds, not words, be your adorning.

(Baha’u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words)

The main sequence of the institute consists of seven books, each with a specific theme and an act of service tied to it. The books are studied in study circles consisting of one tutor and 3-10 participants. Some of the themes of the main sequence are “Reflections on the Life of the Spirit” and “Teaching Children’s Classes”. The last book of the sequence is a tutor training, after which the participant herself/himself can serve as a tutor.

The Ruhi Institute has come to spread all over the world, being used by Baha’is and their friends from the Kiribati Islands in the South Pacific Ocean to the Faeroe Islands and Iceland in Northern Europe. Of course, culture, weather and tradition influences the shape and expression of the study circles in different corners of the world, but they all have in common the purpose of educating and training their participants to be of service to their fellow beings and to mankind.

The Great Being saith: Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.

(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 259)

Tags: development, education, Ruhi books, service

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negin May 7th, 2008

I have a plan: I want to buy a sewing-machine and earn my own living. I want to teach my brothers to read, and then I want to continue studying all the subjects we have studied here.

These are the words of a 25-year old woman from the village Siswala in India, as she is leaving the Barli Institute after completing a six-month program. Born and raised in one of the poorest areas of India, where education and training of women is almost inconceivable, her time at the Barli Institue has clearly changed the direction of her life.

Since 1985, the Barli Institute of Development for Rural Women, situated in the state of Madhya Pradesh in central India, has changed the lives of thousands of women from poor villages by teaching them to read and write, handicrafts, hygiene and personal development. Returning to their villages, they have been able to contribute to the economy of the household, take better care of the children and home and become supporting “pillars” in their families, as well as the whole village. This is where the name of the institute comes from; Barli means pillar.

The project is supported by the Baha’i Community in cooperation with the Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA). It was founded by Mrs. Janak McGilligan, who at the time was a young woman with a degree in social sciences from Punjab University. She has since then been running the Institute as its director together with her husband, Mr James McGilligan.

The vital question of education of women — far from being a matter of course in some parts of the world -– is indispensible for the advancement of civilization. Abdu’l-Bahá, in expounding the principle of equality of the sexes, tells us:

Daughters and sons must follow the same curriculum of study, thereby promoting unity of the sexes. When all mankind shall receive the same opportunity of education and the equality of men and women be realized, the foundations of war will be utterly destroyed. Without equality this will be impossible because all differences and distinction are conducive to discord and strife. Equality between men and women is conducive to the abolition of warfare for the reason that women will never be willing to sanction it… There is no doubt that when women obtain equality of rights, war will entirely cease among mankind.

Applying this universal principle to the poor villages of central India is the purpose of the Barli-institute. Supporting the economy, participating in the decision-making processes of their villages and passing on the knowledge gained to their children are some of the many ways that the participants contribute to development.

By giving women an education, they are given the key to independence and influence — they are given the possiblity to have a plan.

Tags: development, education, women

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Baha'i Perspectives April 30th, 2008

The results of the election of the governing council of the Baha’i Faith, the Universal House of Justice, were announced in a moving ceremony held today in Haifa, Israel.

Following yesterday’s dignified and joyous election procedure, in which national delegates from across the globe — many of whom were dressed in their cultural attire — filed on stage to cast their votes, the results were announced by the chairperson early this afternoon.

The beautifully-redesigned Baha’i World News Service carries the full story, in addition to a flurry of other reports and multimedia related to the Tenth International Baha’i Convention. To date these include:

• A report and slideshow of the delegates’ visits to Baha’i Holy Places prior to the start of the Convention.
• A report and slideshow of the election process held on Day 1 of the Convention, including an explanation of the unique nature of these elections.
• A report and slideshow of the celebration of the festival of Ridvan held following the election.
• A report on the election results announced this morning.

For those who have had the privilege to attend this year’s Convention, this has undoubtedly been a week that will live long in their memories.

Many delegates wore their native dress — from Western business suits to the colorful garb of specific regions of South America, Africa, and Asia.

Tags: elections

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nooshin April 24th, 2008

There have been various sets of elections in the headlines lately, and most of it not good news. Most people have become cynical about the electoral process, and the institutions they establish. As a Baha’i, however, I have just taken part in the election of my city’s Local Spiritual Assembly and eagerly await the start of the process for the election of the Universal House of Justice, which will begin shortly.

In a letter dated 25 March 2007, the Universal House of Justice, addressing the Baha’is of the world, make mention of this very topic. They begin with a description of the present electoral systems in the world:

One of the signs of the breakdown of society in all parts of the world is the erosion of trust and collaboration between the individual and the institutions of governance. In many nations, the electoral process has become discredited because of endemic corruption. Contributing to the widening distrust of so vital a process are the influence on the the outcome from vested interests having access to lavish funds, the restrictions on freedom of choice inherent in the party system, and the distortion in public perception of the candidates by the bias expressed in the media.

Having described what ails the system, the House of Justice explains what ails the individuals in the system:

Apathy, alienation, and disillusionment are a consequence, too, as is a growing sense of despair of the unlikelihood that the most capable citizens will emerge to deal with the manifold problems of a defective social order. Evident everywhere is a yearning for institutions which will dispense justice, dispel oppression, and foster an enduring unity between the disparate elements of society.

Shoghi Effendi describes the manner in which Baha’is should participate in Baha’i elections:

When called upon to vote in a Baha’i election, believers should be aware that they are carrying out a sacred task unique to this Dispensation. They should approach this duty in a prayerful attitude, seeking divine guidance and confirmation. As Shoghi Effendi has advised “they must turn completely to God, and with a purity of motive, a freedom of spirit and a sanctity of heart, participate in the elections.

The Baha’i Administrative system comprises of elected institutions as local, national and international levels. Baha’u'llah describes them as follows:

It behoveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly.

The rights and responsibilities of these elected institutions are expressed in the following excerpt from a letter by Shoghi Effendi:

Their function is not to dictate, but to consult, and consult not only among themselves, but as much as possible with the Friends whom they represent… They should approach their task with extreme humility, and endeavour, by their openmindedness, their high sense of justice and duty, their candour, their modesty, their entire devotion to the welfare and interests of the Friends, the Cause, and humanity, to win, not only the confidence and the genuine support and respect of those whom they serve, but also their esteem and real affection.

Tags: elections, politics

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Baha'i Perspectives April 2nd, 2008

Good behaviour and high moral character must come first, for unless the character be trained, acquiring knowledge will only prove injurious. Knowledge is praiseworthy when it is coupled with ethical conduct and virtuous character; otherwise it is a deadly poison, a frightful danger. A physician of evil character, and who betrayeth his trust, can bring on death, and become the source of numerous infirmities and diseases.

(Abdu’l-Baha, From a Tablet, translated from the Persian)

All over the world, Baha’is are taking this lesson to heart and establishing classes for children, open to all, that develop spiritual and moral habits. To do this effectively, however, they are training themselves first.

There are seven books that currently comprise what the Baha’i community calls the Ruhi Books. They form a sequence of courses used to train participants to become resources for their community’s development. Each book in the sequence offers training in a different line of action that builds on the lessons learned in the earlier books. Book 3 of this sequence trains people to become teachers of classes for children that develop spiritual and moral habits. As with the rest of the sequence, these classes are free of charge, and open to all who wish to make a difference in their local communities.

There are many places where these classes are having a profound impact on peoples’ lives.

If you would like to find out more about the Ruhi training sequence, contact the Baha’i community in your area.

Tags: childhood, Ruhi books

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