Baha’i Perspectives

leila July 18th, 2008

Every morning, I sleepily stumble into my office, a glass of steaming Lady Grey Tea in hand, absent-mindedly clack away at the keyboard to log into my computer, and catch up on the world.

Living abroad this year, I’ve soaked up the news more than ever before. I don’t know if it’s an attempt to stay connected with home, or just a new means of procrastination.

And what a year to stay connected — natural disaster in Burma, a heated race in Zimbabwe, Olympic protests against China, a historical presidential election in the U.S.

I reflect on the year, and I can’t help but notice that the vast majority of the news is, well, quite gloomy. Even with the unprecedented breaking of gender and racial boundaries in the U.S. presidential election, the news was constantly fraught with the polarizing, oftentimes nasty coverage that emphasized personality and appearance over issues of substance.

It made me remember why, in the past, I avoided reading the news in the first place — because it was so darn depressing.

But my personal habits have also shifted a bit this year, in that I’ve made a more serious commitment to read from the Bahá’í Writings. And in the process of steadily increasing my knowledge of the Bahá’í Faith, the gloomy nature of the world suddenly seems less depressing to me. In fact, it makes a lot of sense — and, I’d venture to assert, it’s kind of exciting?

Let me backtrack by saying that lives lost, the triumph of dictators, or partisan quarreling in the presidential election is not exciting. It’s sad, and, if I didn’t have the writings of Bahá’u'lláh, ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, and Shoghi Effendi from which to draw perspective, I’d hop on the next train to the Himalayas with my bag of soy nuts to stare at the clouds in seclusion rather than face the pain of this world.

Two words, however, ring in my head as I read about the world’s woes and triumphs: disintegration and integration.

Let me put this in some context. Most of the world’s traditions — religious, cultural, tribal, or otherwise — speak of the promise of a bright, peaceful, unified future. Bahá’ís believe that that time has arrived.

“But what of all the depressing gloominess you were just talking about?” some of you might be thinking.

This is where my favorite analogy — that comparing the whole of humankind to a human being — comes in. Humanity has gone through its childhood already: grappling with the fact that women are equal to men, that slavery is inhumane, how to rub two sticks together to create fire, and the like. Not everyone is fully in accordance with all those issues (except for the fire part), but in the past century and a half, we’ve made more progress than all previous centuries combined.

Nowadays, we seem to be zooming ahead in certain aspects. Information from India to Chile in seconds? Check. Eradication of many communicable diseases? Check. And yet, we still haven’t figured out a way to get along. We’re making inroads, but somehow, the tension in the world seems to be getting worse and worse.

Isn’t it a bit like adolescence? You’ve figured out how to walk, talk, and feed yourself, but suddenly, a whole new set of problems abounds. Mom and dad are still driving you around -- embarrassing! –, that blemish on your nose never goes away, and you seem to be a lot smellier these days.

And so it is with humanity. We’ve figured out some of the basics, and we astonish ourselves with our scientific and technological advancements. But doesn’t some of that partisan political sniping remind you of gossiping middle-schoolers? Are not the waves of violence and oppression that plague societies reminiscent of the turbulence that surrounds the teenage years? Our global community searching for commonality — what are human rights, what is justice? — similar to an adolescent seeking his or her identity? And likewise, doesn’t our endless quest for knowledge and truth, or our rising suspicion of and exasperation with many present institutions, bring to mind that struggle in the chasm between childhood and adulthood?

It’s certain that the old, oppressive ways are the world are disintegrating – at times rapidly, and other times at a painfully lethargic pace. But with this disintegration has come a gradual, sometimes subtle integrative process.

‘Abdu’l-Bahá elucidated this theme in a talk given in New York City, in 1912:

From every standpoint the world of humanity is undergoing a reformation. The laws of former governments and civilizations are in process of revision; scientific ideas and theories are developing and advancing to meet a new range of phenomena; invention and discovery are penetrating hitherto unknown fields, revealing new wonders and hidden secrets of the material universe; industries have vastly wider scope and production; everywhere the world of mankind is in the throes of evolutionary activity indicating the passing of the old conditions and advent of the new age of reformation. Old trees yield no fruitage; old ideas and methods are obsolete and worthless now. Old standards of ethics, moral codes and methods of living in the past will not suffice for the present age of advancement and progress.

(Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 438)

In Part II, I’ll explore the integrative phenomena arising in today’s world, and the central role the Bahá’í Faith plays in the building up of a new civilization.

Meanwhile, a homework assignment: try reading the news today. Any examples of the integrative processes I mentioned? Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Tags: integration/disintegration, maturity, oneness, politics

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leila July 28th, 2008

I sat down this morning, with my glass of Lady Grey, scanning the pages of the New York Times, guiltily avoiding writing the sequel to my last post. My editor’s voice haunted me, with the words “deadline” and “Sunday” echoing in my head. I sleepily rubbed my shoulder, feeling tense from the day’s depressing headlines, trying to re-ignite the cheery tone with which I had left off in my previous post.

The disintegrative forces — those old, oppressive, corrupt phenomena in the world — were, no doubt, getting me down.

Sometimes, it seems as if oppression, corruption, and injustice are King. Sometimes, it seems the change brought about by the integrative forces is painfully slow.

As I scanned the news, it seemed all hope was lost: a bomb in Istanbul, soaring fuel prices, and the inevitable snarkiness that surrounds the U.S. presidential elections.

Then, hidden among the headlines, I found a gem of a story. It spoke of a music program at a woman’s prison in Venezuela. The women — some thieves, some drug smugglers, and even a Malaysian law student who claimed she was wrongly imprisoned — participate in a voluntary orchestral program that offers classical training. In this program, the women find hope and purpose. One participant remarked, after her three daughters watched her performance, “I finally felt useful in this life.”

This, to me, is an example of the integrative forces arising in the world. Sometimes small, sometimes quiet, but altogether a reflection of a changing attitude in the world.

It’s easy, though, to look at these integrative efforts with a sense of cynicism. I often hear, from my peers or in my own mind, lamentations about how the U.N. is mired in stagnation, or that the millions of dollars the World Bank pours into development hardly produces equivalent results. Or, that successful and well-meaning endeavors in social and economic development are too small to make any kind of true impact.

Our generation is an eternally impatient one, and tends to seek quick-fixes. If we only stopped to reflect on how much we’ve accomplished in the past century, and how much more, as our consciousness expands, humanity will inevitably grow.

In order for humankind to progress, though, it is imperative that we reflect on the nature of the world, on the failures and successes of present institutions, and then act accordingly. Shoghi Effendi, the Guardian of the Bahá’í Faith, wrote:

The world is in great turmoil and its problems seem to become daily more acute. We should, therefore, not sit idle, otherwise we would be failing in carrying out our sacred duty. Bahá’u'lláh has not given us His Teachings to treasure them and hide them for our personal delight and pleasure. He gave them to us that we may pass them from mouth to mouth until all the world becomes familiar with them and enjoys their blessings and uplifting influence.

– Shoghi Effendi, Bahá’í News, no. 73 (May 1933), p. 2

Bahá’ís believe that Bahá’u'lláh’s teachings, rooted in the concept of the oneness of humanity, are not only those that will help solve the world’s ills in the future, but are already beginning to do so. Bahá’u'lláh was imprisoned and placed into exile for most of His life — yet His teachings have already manifested themselves in ways both small and large, and millions of individuals around the world, on all continents, have embraced His Faith.

And I’d venture to assert that as a steadily growing cohort of individuals who engage in sustained social action emerges, beginning from the grassroots, and based on the spirit of Bahá’u'lláh’s teachings, our adolescent world will, ever steadily, blossom into the calm of maturity.

So, while my awkwardness personally never ended after adolescence, my adherence to Bahá’u'lláh’s teachings makes me certain that humanity’s will.

Tags: integration/disintegration, maturity, oneness, politics

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iman April 17th, 2009

I woke up with a thought in my mind: why do I sometimes resist change; character improvement for the better?  It’s simply easier to stay the same, I guess, even if it’s not always comfortable. Sometimes it may be because we are too comfortable that we don’t feel the urge to adjust ourselves. Sometimes we just don’t realize that we need to change. Realization occurs only after careful and constant reflection on our actions; but sometimes we don’t reflect and don’t try to change. In truth, however, it isn’t easy to disregard all past habits and experiences and start anew.  Abdu’l-Baha says:

It is extremely difficult to teach the individual and refine his character once puberty is passed. By then, as experience hath shown, even if every effort be exerted to modify some tendency of his, it all availeth nothing. He may, perhaps, improve somewhat today; but let a few days pass and he forgetteth, and turneth backward to his habitual condition and accustomed ways.

Therefore it is in early childhood that a firm foundation must be laid:

It followeth that the children’s school must be a place of utmost discipline and order, that instruction must be thorough, and provision must be made for the rectification and refinement of character; so that, in his earliest years, within the very essence of the child, the divine foundation will be laid and the structure of holiness raised up…Know that this matter of instruction, of character rectification and refinement, of heartening and encouraging the child, is of the utmost importance, for such are basic principles of God.

Hardship and tests can act as a catalyst for change, not only on a personal level but also on a global one. Mankind as an entity faces challenges similar to those restraining us in our journey of personal transformation. It seems to be the common case, globally, that change is resisted. It seems as though only until our ‘backs are against the wall’ that we begin to discern the importance of altering our unsustainable patterns of old.

How long will humanity persist in its waywardness? How long will injustice continue? How long is chaos and confusion to reign amongst men? How long will discord agitate the face of society?…The signs of impending convulsions and chaos can now be discerned, inasmuch as the prevailing order appeareth to be lamentably defective.

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

Shoghi Effendi goes on to say:

Economic distress…together with political confusion, financial upheavals, religious restlessness and racial animosities, seem to have conspired to add immeasurably to the burdens under which an impoverished, a war-weary world is groaning…The world…is everywhere assailed by forces it can neither explain nor control.

That the forces of a world catastrophe can alone precipitate such a new phase of human thought is, alas, becoming increasingly apparent. That nothing short of the fire of a severe ordeal, unparalleled in its intensity, can fuse and weld the discordant entities that constitute the elements of present-day civilization, into the integral components of the world commonwealth of the future, is a truth which future events will increasingly demonstrate.

Does this imply that dire times lie ahead?

Nothing but a fiery ordeal, out of which humanity will emerge, chastened and prepared, can succeed in implanting that sense of responsibility which the leaders of a new-born age must arise to shoulder.

(Shoghi Effendi, The World Order of Baha’u'llah, p. 45)

Drawing on Ohm’s law, the more the resistance experienced, the greater the potential. The onus is on us to make use of this potential.

Tags: change, education, integration/disintegration

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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

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