Baha’i Perspectives

Cape Town to Kyoto

Interview Series June 25th, 2008

The Interview Series aims to reflect the unity in diversity of the Baha’i Faith through a series of informal interviews with people from various cultures and backgrounds, touching on their personal experiences and insights. This week, we chat with charming Ndumiso over coffee and a sandwich.

Where are you from?

My passport says South Africa so I guess I could say Cape Town, but then I mention I’m from Swaziland. My link to Swaziland is strong because it’s culturally stronger than most other sub-cultures in Southern Africa, in terms of the language, the accent and the relaxed way of living. I was 20 when I went to South Africa, but I was born and raised in Swaziland. I think where you come from is important because it’s like a reference point. I wouldn’t mind eventually going back to Swaziland [Ndumiso is currently finishing his Energy Sciences doctorate at Kyoto University in Japan].

How long have you been a Bahá’í?

Since March 1990, just before I turned 21. I had finished high school, but hadn’t started university yet.

When did you first hear or see the word?

None of my family are Baha’is, so I didn’t grow up with it. I went to high school with Baha’is. They told me some things, but since Baha’is don’t proselytize, I didn’t get much. But I got some stuff, like the no alcohol thing. With them, it wasn’t just something on paper — it was their behavior. I remember when we graduated, I was like, “We’re finishing high school, let’s go get drunk!” The Baha’is obviously didn’t do that.

I also remember that someone came to the school to present the Peace Statement once. They were from the Baha’i community, but I remembered this after I became a Baha’i. They came and said “Let’s pray.” I remember the prayer was different. I remember I didn’t make fun of it, and I would’ve, being in high school! I took the Statement home, and I think it was then that the seeds were being laid.

Also, when I was around 8, I went to a boarding school. It was a 7^th Day Adventist school. The matron’s daughter used to give this Bible class. In the class, she said, “Baha’is say Christ has returned.” And I said, “So where is He?” Years later I remembered that moment, after I was a Baha’i.

My mother went to Chicago to study when I was between 17 and 19 years old. After she came back, I looked through the photos. The following year, I became a Baha’i. After I became a Baha’i, I realized she had photos in front of the Baha’i House of Worship in Chicago. I asked her, “What’s this?” and she told me that her Christian friends in Chicago had told her some things about the House of Worship, trying to discourage her to go there and visit it. They said things like “the Baha’i God lives in the dome of the House of Worship.” My mother isn’t a follower, so she went to see this “God in the dome” for herself!

My mother was the most positive person in my family about my decision when I became a Baha’i. Before she passed away, I would read to her from the Baha’i Writings often.

Why does one need faith?

I wish I could give a wise answer, like, “picture a bird…”

For me, as a child, my grandmother and family were Christian. Originally, they would tell you things about God and religion, but then you were free to figure things out for yourself as you got older. I started to realize that all people have a limited interest. The only thing that went beyond this was Christ’s message.

When I was about 13 or 14, I started to really feel like the world is full of this limited interest. There is nothing to die for, and nothing real to celebrate. But the Writings of Christ — they were inspiring. I was attracted to these admonitions and ideals. They seemed like light compared to other things.

What about the Baha’i Faith gives you hope?

The most simple reason is because it answered a number of my questions. The answers that it offered were quite compelling. Questions like, “Why am I here?” The best reason for me for following the Bahá’í Faith is that it answers those questions “Why am I here? What do I do with my life?”

Science gives you power. We can build skyscrapers, atomic bombs etc… science gives us ability. But it doesn’t give you direction. Technology is animalistic. Only when it is applied to humanity does it have a special meaning.

What virtue do you esteem most highly or try to adhere to most often?

It changes throughout one’s life! At different stages I’ve been concerned with different virtues. At one stage I was more concerned with harmony — the harmony of the human race, of the people around me.

Now, patience is a big one. The things that come around with patience are really beautiful. I think it’s important to keep it simple, to be patient. If it doesn’t come as quickly as I assumed, then I’ll just have to wait.

What do you consider your greatest achievement in life, to date?

I really value the small moments in my life the most. Like, if there was a little kid getting beaten up at school and I stepped in to help… those are the ones I really cherish. Intervening on behalf of others.

I would say recognizing the Manifestation of God for today, but I don’t know whether that is really an achievement or a bounty!

What life lesson do you wish you had known earlier?

That things work out. If you have a good foundation, or a good intention, things work out. That I shouldn’t be so impatient with things. I wish I would have been more patient with things in my life.

What is your favourite passage from the Writings?

CX. The Great Being saith: O ye children of men! The fundamental purpose animating the Faith of God and His Religion is to safeguard the interests and promote the unity of the human race, and to foster the spirit of love and fellowship amongst men. Suffer it not to become a source of dissension and discord, of hate and enmity. This is the straight Path, the fixed and immovable foundation. Whatsoever is raised on this foundation, the changes and chances of the world can never impair its strength, nor will the revolution of countless centuries undermine its structure. Our hope is that the world’s religious leaders and the rulers thereof will unitedly arise for the reformation of this age and the rehabilitation of its fortunes. Let them, after meditating on its needs, take counsel together and, through anxious and full deliberation, administer to a diseased and sorely-afflicted world the remedy it requireth.

(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 215)