Ruhi Study Circle

I Mashiyyat 1, 163 B.E. - September 27, 2006

I am taking the Ruhi Book 4: The Twin Manifestations. One of the activities incorporated into the Study Circle is art. At each meeting the participants do an some type of art project. So far, we have drawn pictures and did dramatic performances.

My description makes the study circle sound boring, but it’s not. Besides doing the activities in the workbook, we eat, laugh, do art projects, and memorize verse from the writings. Right now, I’m memorizing a verse revealed by The Bab.

My Favorite Bookmark

17 Izzat 163 B.E. - September 24, 2006

It’s been a productive morning, Mom and I went for a walk around the block. There is a slight wind, but it’s not as bad as it was on Friday. When we got back, Mom found a bookmark I’ve been looking trying to find for some time now. This is my favorite bookmark, because of two reasons. First, it’s purple and lavender my favorite colors. Second, it has a nine-pointed star on it; I bought the bookmark at a fundraiser a few years ago.

I’m going to use it to mark my place in the Ruhi Institute workbook The Twin Manifestations. This book 4 in the series, so far I’ve taken five of the courses. I’m attending the study circle for the present book every other Saturday morning. The homework I’m working on right now, is to memorize some scripture verses and write a ten-minute talk on The Raise of the Babí Faith. The only thing I have to research for the talk is what’s in this workbook. If I believe I need more information, then I’ll go to The Dawn Breakers.

This coming week is going to be busy. Besides the talk I just mentioned, I have homework in my EDU620 class and a leading journal entry for a contest I’m participating in at writing.com. Then there is the contest I’m running at writing.com.

International Peace Day

14 Izzat 163 B.E. – September 21, 2006

For generations people have read the promises in their sacred scriptures about “peace on Earth”. The promise of an age of peace is in all the holy books. The followers of every religion have prayed for it and imagined what it would be like to live in harmony with their fellow human beings. The United Nations General Assembly, 2002 proclaimed September 21 “International Peace Day”.

The question asked, “Is peace possible?”
The answer, “Yes, peace is not only possible, it is inevitable.”

Peace is God’s promise to humanity. The promise is in every holy book. However, simply because God promised it to us, doesn’t mean we can set idly by and wait for its arrival. Our assistance in helping in the peace process is important.

Wealth and Poverty

13 Izzat 163 B.E. – September 20, 2006

This morning my Mother and I went for our normal morning walk. I got to thinking about the spiritual definition of wealth and poverty. Precisely what brought these subjects to mind, I am not sure. When I walk, my thoughts wonder between spiritual matter, the beauty of the neighborhood, and half a dozen other things. Anyway I got to pondering the two concepts and decided to see what Baha’u’llah had to say on the subject.

I used the Oceans Research Library to find what I wanted, which was the spiritual definitions of poverty and wealth. This is what I found: “… Consequently by ‘wealth’ is intended independence of all else save God and by ‘poverty’ the need of God.” (Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 34) This meaning of course is not what people usually mean when they discuss these two subjects, but perhaps it should be part of the discussion.

We focus so much on the material definitions of words and concepts that we forget there are also spiritual meanings. It is the spiritual meanings and the way we incorporate them into our lives that transforms individuals. When a person raises his or her mental vision from the purely material and focus on the spiritual, then that individual is renewed and the circumstance of his or her life changes. Sometimes this change is slow and barely noticeable, yet it does occur. In these instances, the person just needs to “hang in there”, pray, have faith, and look for the opportunities approaching.

Hang in There Part II

12 Izzat 163 B.E. – September 19, 2006

Eventually you have to admit no one else is going to rescue you. Sometimes this revelation is the results of a gust of wind shaking the tree limb. Or you can just loose your balance, but eventually you end up hanging onto the limb by your front paws and head. Then you have to decide if you can or want to continue hanging on like this, or take a chance and let go.

The problem with letting go in this situation is that you can’t see the ground. You don’t know how far down it is or if someone or something soft it there to fall onto. You have to decide whether it’s worth the risk of breaking something when you hit the ground. I’ve encountered a lot of these situations in the past couple of years. I’m not sure if its getting better or worse. The one thing I’m sure of in these situations is that my faith play a large part in letting go.
When I let go of my limb and fall I find someone or something soft waiting to catch me. The people always there to catch me is Baha’u’llah and other Baha’is. Once I let go and place every thing in the hand of God or God’s Reflection to humanity, someone catches me or picks me up off the ground. The only thing I’ve ever broken by letting go of my limb is my fears and doubts. My faith always becomes stronger with the experience.

Hang In There Part I

11 Izzat 163 B.E. – September 18, 2006

All my life people, usually relatives or friends, have told me to “Just hang in there”, but what does it mean to “hang in there”. It isn’t that I don’t know what it means, it’s simply that I’ve had a good picture of it until now. Now I know what it looks like to “hang in there”. You can’t get a true definition of something until you see a picture of it, that because we think in pictures, or at least I do, rather than just words. Don’t get me wrong, some of my thoughts are in words, but what stays with me is the pictures and the graphics that show something happening.

Anyway, Mom was going through some boxes the other day and she found an interesting card. It was a blank card with the picture of a cat on the front and the back. The cat was in a tree and “hanging in there”. After contemplating the card, I decided that there are two phases to “hanging in there”. In the first part you appear to be doing all right, you are hanging onto the branch and just waiting for someone to rescue you. This is an illusion, because you normally aren’t rescued. If you are lucky you just keep hanging there safe in the tree with your front legs and head draped over the limb and your back legs and rear dangling on the other side.

Prayer for Peace

10 Izzat 163 B.E. – September 17, 2006 at 7:15:33 AM

The subject for today seems to be peace. I just finished posting to my “Thoughts on Spiritual Poetry” blog. The subject there was “Peace and Healing”. That was a prose peace instead of a poem. OK, so I had intended to post it to this blog, but posted it to that one instead. Why I did that I don’t know, it wasn’t because I not awake yet. I’m wide awake and planning to go for a walk in a few minutes. For anyone who wants to read my thoughts on “Peace and Healing”, I’m including the link to the other blog here http://spiritualpoetry.blogspot.com/.

Anyway, to get back to the prayer for peace, it is by ‘Abdu’l-Baha. The prayer is the one that came to my e-mail box yesterday. I’m subscribed to a Baha’i quotes newsletter and every day a quote from the Baha’i writings is delivered to my e-mail box. This happens to be one of my favorite prayers by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, so I’m going to share it today.

O God! Raise aloft the banner of the oneness of mankind.
O God! Establish the Most Great Peace.
Cement Thou, O God, the hearts together.

O Thou kind Father, God! Gladden our hearts through the fragrance of Thy love. Brighten our eyes through the Light of Thy Guidance. Delight our ears with the melody of Thy Word, and shelter us all in the Stronghold of Thy Providence.

Thou art the Mighty and Powerful, Thou art the Forgiving and Thou art the One Who overlooketh the shortcomings of all mankind.

Abdu'l-Baha
From a talk given at Cleveland, Ohio, USA 6 May 1912

What’s On Your Mind Spiritually?

8 Izzat 163 B.E. – September 14, 2006 at 8:11:40 PM Pacific Time

“What’s on your mind spiritually?” That’s not a question people ask very often. In fact, I’ve never been ask that question. The usual question is “What’s on your mind?” The answer to that question varies from “nothing” to “it’s none of your business”. I wonder what type of answer I would get if I ask “What’s on your mind spiritually?”

I wonder how people would react if, when they ask me “What’s on your mind?” I answered giving a spiritual response. If I said something like “I’m thinking about how much God loves me.” Or maybe “I’m thinking about how generous the Divine Essence is with the gifts bestowed on me each day.” Of course using I and me in this context sounds rather selfish. Therefore, maybe I should reply with “Just thinking about how much the Divine Essence love us.”

Three Birthdays

5 Izzat 163 B.E. – September 12, 2006

I have three birthdays coming up, one each in October, November, and December. October 31 is my writing.com birthday; the day I created my free writing.com account, since then I have upgraded to a paid membership. November 23 is my Baha’i birthday, the day I officially declared my belief in Baha’u’llah. December 24 is the day I was born.

Each of these three days has had an effect upon my self-image, on the person I am today and on my spiritual path. Each has redirected my path through life and caused me to ask hard questions about my belief system and myself. As I write this entry, I think about my past and my future. There are certain things that I have no doubt about. Most of the events in my life, that I am absolutely certain about occurred in the past. Some of those events I would like to forget, but cannot. Therefore, I have learned to deal with them and continue down life’s highway.

Being a member of writing.com has given me confidence in my own abilities as a poet. It has given me the courage to explore other forms of writing besides poetry. As a member of writing.com, I can post my stories, poems and articles on the website and receive feedback from other writers who read and review my work. Those who review it give suggestions on how it may be improved.

Being a Baha’i has changed my entire worldview. I see religion, God, humanity, and the world itself in an entirely different light than I did before I Declared my Faith in Baha’u’llah. I see humanity as “the leaves of one tree”, I see the different religions as chapters in a single holy book and I see the founder’s of religions as all revealing the attributes of God. For me “Earth is on country and mankind its citizens”.

The Day to Remember Heroes

4 Izzat 163 B.E. – September 11, 2006

This is the day to remember heroes. While it is true we should remember heroes everyday, we usually remember them only on specific days. Days set aside for either that purpose or the days when their presence in the world became suddenly and painfully obvious. Today is one of those days, a day when time stopped.

9/11 brings tears to our eyes, sends chills up our spines. It is the demarcation line between past and present. Most of us remember precisely where we were when we heard the news. We remember setting transfixed in front of a T.V. set watching heroes rush into one of the Twin Towers. We remember watching as the building collapsed around them. We remember staring in disbelief as the scene was replayed again and again. We remember and we pause for a moment of silence or a moment of prayer.

Yes, today is the day to remember heroes, the day to say thank you to those men and women, who daily put their lives on the line without asking anything in return.

Morning Walk

3 Izzat 163 B.E. – September 10, 2006

My mother and I took a walk this morning. It wasn’t a very long walk, just around the block. It was an interesting excursion, right after dawn. This is a quite neighborhood and not much happens. That early of a morning there wasn’t a lot to see. There were birds sitting on telephone wires and a cat curled under a car. The cat was a multicolored cat and apparently, she likes to lay under parked cars. I say this because she was under a parked car Friday when we went for a walk.

I was thinking how much we have to thank God for this time of year. The mornings are cool. Dawn is beautiful and this morning I saw the full moon still in the sky. There is nothing like seeing the full moon in a blue sky. I don’t think humanity thanks God as much as they should. True the world right now appears on the verge of falling apart, but that is only an illusion.

I realized this morning, as I was walking, that the present world situation is only a temporary condition. We are going through the birth pangs of a new civilization; Earth is in the process of becoming united, so the ideas and concepts that oppose this unity are being revealed to humanity. Humanity itself is maturing, becoming an adult and the concepts of childhood are moving into the past.

Epiphany at the Feast of Might

1 Izzat 163 B.E. – September 8, 2006

All my life I have felt like an outsider, except among the Baha’is. I realized this last night at the Feast of Izzat (Might). Precisely what lead to this realization I am not sure. We were watching a video of Baha’i activities in Boulder Colorado and I suddenly realized that the only time I never feel like an outsider is among the Baha’is. That was not my only realization last night.

I also decided that I am not active enough in the community, now I know there are people who will disagree with me; I know that this is a personal perception. Still I have not been going to devotional services or firesides. So tonight, I am going to a Fireside at the center and next week I am going to start attending devotional services on a regular basis.

Right now, I am taking the Ruhi course The Twin Manifestations every other Saturday. I have taken Ruhi Books 1 and 2, so I can facilitate those two courses. Tutoring or facilitating those courses are the next on my list, I think I will plan to start a Book 1 in October. That gives people to sign up for the course and lets me do a little more meticulous house cleaning.

It Rained Today

18 Asma 163 B.E. – September 6, 2006 A.D.

It rained today and as a result, the roads are slick. Anyway, I had to go to the post office to mail a letter; if I would keep stamps in the house then I could just have the post person take the letter when he delivered my mail. However, since I seldom keep more than a book of stamps in the house at one time, I did not have stamps to for the letter so I had to go to the post office.

I always say a prayer of protection before I leave the driveway or the garage depending on where the car happens to be when we decide to go somewhere. I said the prayer, backed out of the driveway, turned my lights on, and headed for the post office. On the way some guy took a corner too fast and hit the medium, no one was hurt this time and the person just drove on afterwards, but this happens every time it rains. Somebody approaches a stop light at a high rate of speed and then attempts to stop; because of the road conditions, they lose control. It does not always end without any injuries, but it did this time.

When it rains in Las Vegas, people just have to drive a little slower. If the its not raining, then the speed limit is alright, but when it rains you not only have to turn your lights on, but you have to go under the speed limit as well. In addition, you need to wear your seat belt.

Silence – An Interesting Subject

16 Asma 163 B.E. – September 4, 2006 A.D.

Silence is an interesting subject. How many of us can sit in silence and listen? Listen to the wind blow through the trees or the bushes we have in our yards. Listen to the birds singing as the wind blows through the trees. Listen to the sound of traffic on the expressway while we sit on our patios. Listen to the person next to us talking about nothing in particular. Listen to a person we love ramble from one subject to another, while they sit next to us.

How many of us can sit in silence and let our thoughts flow from subject to subject? Just let random ideas flow into and out of our minds, while we do nothing but sit and stare at the birds in the olive trees. Just let random thoughts flow from dendrite to axon, while we watch the wind blow through stone pine trees. Just sit and think of nothing in particular or everything in general, without talking, without writing anything down, without taking any action at all.

How many of us can sit in silence and remember our past without out questioning our choices? Without wondering, what our lives would be like if we made different decisions at, what we consider critical points in our lives. Who is to say those were critical points? How many of us can sit in silence and enjoy our accomplishments, without criticizing ourselves?

Silence is an interesting subject. Instead of sitting and criticizing ourselves for what we did or did not do, maybe we should just sit in silence and enjoy the world around us for a few minutes. Just sit and watch the neighbor’s cat walk across our roof. Just sit and listen to the neighbor’s dog bark at the cat or the birds or whatever. Just sit and listen to the traffic on the expressway or the whistle of a distant freight train, without doing anything but enjoying the sights and the sounds in the world around us.

One hour a week or thirty minutes a day of silence; of listen to the world instead of criticizing ourselves, that is all we need. In that short time we sit aside to listen to the world, we might have a revelation about ourselves, about the world around us. On the other hand, we could just sit and laugh at the cat walking across the roof or the dog chasing his tail. In either case, we would not be criticizing ourselves or anyone else for a few minutes each day or week. Of course, if we are laughing at the cat or the dog, we are not sitting in silence, but we are not criticizing anyone either.

Yes, silence is an interesting subject. We must train our minds to silence; it does not come easily to us. We humans cannot be silent for long. Moreover, if we do sit in silence for a few minutes, we start criticizing ourselves or we get up and turn on the radio or T.V. so we do not have to hear our own thoughts criticize ourselves.

The Day of Glory

14 Asma 163 B.E. – September 2, 2006

This is Jalal, the Day of Glory. The individual can reflect the glory of God by treating other as he or she would want to be treated.

The Day of Independence

13 Asma 163 B.E. – September 1, 2006

Today is Istiqlal, the day of Independence. This is an interesting spiritual attribute. The spiritual attribute of independence refers to being independent of all else but God. When we are talking about this concept from a spiritual point of view there are many connotations that we do not usually consider.

An individual can reflect this attribute by investigating reality for himself or herself. We investigate reality when we ask questions and we need to ask questions about everything in our lives. We accept the practice of asking questions about scientific theory, but we often do not consider questions the religious concepts or our own opinions. Do we know why we hold the beliefs and opinion we have? Do we know what we think about ourselves and why?

Another interesting thing about the spiritual attribute of independence, it does not preclude obedience to God. However, we do need to know why we chose to obey God’s laws. This is a part of being independent of all else save God.