There's a saying that is attributed to Abdul-Baha, of the Baha'i Fait. "Little by little, day by day." It fits in with your article and is something I try to remember.
I was a member of the Baha'i Faith for sixteen years. My husband and I were married in a Baha'i ceremony. When we moved away from Santa Cruz, CA, we left the Faith itself, but the teachings of the Faith still ring in our minds and hearts.
One evening, I was trying to explain Baha'i to a resistant young woman who said, "Tell me in three words or less what your religion is all about." I said, "Unity."
Oh, this is truly amazing to me. I really had no idea about any of this. It's very unknown in Spain, and I think in other places too. I've never seen anything like it. Does this religion have many followers in the US?
It's been so long since I've been involved in the Baha'i organization, I don't have the statistics. With a lay clergy and informal missionary structure, the Faith is still fairly obscure. There are huge communities in the big cities, especially where there are Iranian communities. L.A., for instance. The Baha'is are considered a sect of Islam by Muslims and have suffered violence in those communities. I don't even believe Baha'is still exist in Iran where the Faith originated. Today, by the way, is Ridvan, which commemorates when Baha'u'llah spent 12 days in the Garden of Ridvan before declaring his Faith and mission. I actually had to google that bit, but today is also Earth Day and I've always thought it was auspicious that those days occur on the same day. No relationship between them, though, but Baha'u'llah did love nature and his writings use nature and garden imagery. To mark the day, Baha'is have their elections for their communities' Local Spiritual Assemblies. You know, Alvaro, one would think this religion would have taken the world by storm with its peace and unity goals, but our species is just too busy killing itself. Then again, the writings also talk about having the "old world order" going through horrible destructive events before the "new world order" settles upon us.
Oh! I had no idea about all this you've said, but I think religion hasn't spread because, in general, I feel religions are in decline. This very individualistic age is making the very act of forming a community increasingly difficult. Until religions become more individualistic, I don't see a new religious world. Besides, science is the new religion; technology and science are the new prophets.
I believe the problem with religion is it's an institution that presses comformity while drawing funds out of the members to "support" the institution. This s approrpiate to a small degree to maintain buildings, but the religion isn't the buildings. It's in people's heart and minds. Teaching a common ethic to keep society from running amok is appropriate; we've adready been given vasic principles (The Ten Commandments, etc.) that exist in most religious systems and that survive the centuries. The toxic part of religion is when it becomes political and manipulative of the individual. For me, the money aspect is a prime suspect in religions' decline. When I left the organization of the Baha'i Faith, it was because the concern for money became more prominent than the teachings of the Faith. The Fund became more important than Baha'u'llah. That's when I realized I could take the teachings I'd internalized and leave the structure and community behind. What religion can put into people's hearts that keeps them on an even keel is what religion is all about. Money and power is the key to decline.
There's a saying that is attributed to Abdul-Baha, of the Baha'i Fait. "Little by little, day by day." It fits in with your article and is something I try to remember.
Oh, I didn't know who Abdu'l-Baha or Bahai were. I've done some research. How interesting! Where did you learn that? I've never heard of it.
I was a member of the Baha'i Faith for sixteen years. My husband and I were married in a Baha'i ceremony. When we moved away from Santa Cruz, CA, we left the Faith itself, but the teachings of the Faith still ring in our minds and hearts.
One evening, I was trying to explain Baha'i to a resistant young woman who said, "Tell me in three words or less what your religion is all about." I said, "Unity."
Oh, this is truly amazing to me. I really had no idea about any of this. It's very unknown in Spain, and I think in other places too. I've never seen anything like it. Does this religion have many followers in the US?
It's been so long since I've been involved in the Baha'i organization, I don't have the statistics. With a lay clergy and informal missionary structure, the Faith is still fairly obscure. There are huge communities in the big cities, especially where there are Iranian communities. L.A., for instance. The Baha'is are considered a sect of Islam by Muslims and have suffered violence in those communities. I don't even believe Baha'is still exist in Iran where the Faith originated. Today, by the way, is Ridvan, which commemorates when Baha'u'llah spent 12 days in the Garden of Ridvan before declaring his Faith and mission. I actually had to google that bit, but today is also Earth Day and I've always thought it was auspicious that those days occur on the same day. No relationship between them, though, but Baha'u'llah did love nature and his writings use nature and garden imagery. To mark the day, Baha'is have their elections for their communities' Local Spiritual Assemblies. You know, Alvaro, one would think this religion would have taken the world by storm with its peace and unity goals, but our species is just too busy killing itself. Then again, the writings also talk about having the "old world order" going through horrible destructive events before the "new world order" settles upon us.
Oh! I had no idea about all this you've said, but I think religion hasn't spread because, in general, I feel religions are in decline. This very individualistic age is making the very act of forming a community increasingly difficult. Until religions become more individualistic, I don't see a new religious world. Besides, science is the new religion; technology and science are the new prophets.
I believe the problem with religion is it's an institution that presses comformity while drawing funds out of the members to "support" the institution. This s approrpiate to a small degree to maintain buildings, but the religion isn't the buildings. It's in people's heart and minds. Teaching a common ethic to keep society from running amok is appropriate; we've adready been given vasic principles (The Ten Commandments, etc.) that exist in most religious systems and that survive the centuries. The toxic part of religion is when it becomes political and manipulative of the individual. For me, the money aspect is a prime suspect in religions' decline. When I left the organization of the Baha'i Faith, it was because the concern for money became more prominent than the teachings of the Faith. The Fund became more important than Baha'u'llah. That's when I realized I could take the teachings I'd internalized and leave the structure and community behind. What religion can put into people's hearts that keeps them on an even keel is what religion is all about. Money and power is the key to decline.