Wanderings

The best way of arriving at this global vision and achieving commonly-held values across the world is through education.  What is needed is a world programme of education that fosters in all the peoples of the world an understanding of the underlying unity and inter-dependence of the world and an appreciation of the rich diversity of its cultures.

~ Dr. Moojan Momen, Baha’i Focus on Development

Education is the answer to many of the world’s problems.  By learning not just academic skills, but also about the diversity that is us—humans, we can improve our whole society and learn from each other as we learn how much we rely on each other.  So many things we do affect each other, i.e. buying products made in a certain country, supporting a war in another country, the environmental effects of not recycling a product or of burning rain forest to clear it for farm land to raise the beef that will be made into hamburgers for consumption in another part of the world.  If we were able to realize how we are related, and that we are all one culture, with the same values, then maybe we could address these issues through a global vision, but the first step is to ensure education for all.

TeacherJay Secondary Sources diversity, education, globalism, unity

The fact that we imagine ourselves to be right and everybody else wrong is the greatest of all obstacles in the path towards unity, and unity is necessary if we would reach truth, for truth is one.

~ Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 136

Many of the greatest discoveries and advancements in history came from someone considering, even if just for a moment, if what we had always believed and accepted as fact were wrong.  Sometimes we must consider that there are alternatives to what we know to be right; that sometimes it is possible for multiple viewpoints to all be correct.  When we reach that point we may begin to understand not just the truth, but each other.

TeacherJay Paris Talks diversity, independent investigation of truth, prejudice, progress, unity

The sixth principle of Bahá’u'lláh regards the equality of men and women. The male and female of the human kingdom are equal before God. God is no respecter of gender. Whosoever practices more faith, whosoever practices more humanitarianism is nearer to God; but between the male and female there is no innate difference because they share in common all the faculties. The world of humanity has two wings, one the male; the other the female. When both wings are reinforced with the same impulse the bird will be enabled to wing its flight heavenward to the summit of progress. Woman must be given the same opportunities as man for perfecting herself in the attainments of learning, science and arts. God has created the man and the woman equal, why should she be deprived of exercising the fullest opportunities afforded by life? Why should we ever raise the question of superiority and inferiority? In the animal kingdom the male and female enjoy suffrage and in the vegetable kingdom the plants all enjoy equal suffrage. In the human kingdom, which claims to be the realm of brotherhood and solidarity, why should we raise this question?

~ Compilations, Baha’i Scriptures, p. 277

The equality of men and women is of paramount importance in the Baha’i Faith.  It is imperative that women be given the same opportunities to serve and to grow in the Faith.  At the same time, it is necessary for men to share in responsibilities that may have traditionally been reserved for women.  As an educator, I am always pleased to see expansions in the opportunities for young girls to go to school and receive an education.  As a society, there is a resource that we have let go to waste for so many generations.  Although we discuss the equality of the sexes, sometimes we go to far in our encouragement and ignore the differences.  It is those differences in the way that men and women think, react and respond based on our hormonal levels and conditioning that make the inclusion of both male and female so important.

TeacherJay Baha'i Writings discrimination, diversity, equality, gender, unity

O SON OF DUST!
Beware! Walk not with the ungodly and seek not fellowship with him, for such companionship turneth the radiance of the heart into infernal fire.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Persian Hidden Words #57

I noticed that when I became a Baha’i, my group of friends began to change.  Many of the people that I had associated with previously were really just people that I drank with in bars.  There was not much of a spiritual connection.  I found that the Baha’is that I met were interesting people and I was able to make better connections with them because I knew we would have similar insights into a variety of topics, yet with the community being as diverse as it is there was always some new perspective that the other was able to bring into the discussion.  These changes were not intentional, nor did they occur overnight, but when I read this quote, I wondered if something had me do this that I was unaware of.

TeacherJay Hidden Words, The diversity, friends, relationships

It is clear that the reality of mankind is diverse, that opinions are various and sentiments different; and this difference of opinions, of thoughts, of intelligence, of sentiments among the human species arises from essential necessity; for the differences in the degrees of existence of creatures is one of the necessities of existence, which unfolds itself in infinite forms.

~ Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions, p. 301

The Baha’is appreciate all manner of well-formed opinions.  In fact, the Baha’i decision-making process, known as consultation, allows for everyone who wishes to speak to voice her or his opinion.  It is necessary for these differences to exist, to be considered and to be examined.  Just as there is diversity in our physical appearances, and in our abilities, God also provided with this diversity of thought.  All innovations throughout history, whether they be in the form of technology, social progress, or spirituality occurred because someone had a different opinion.  This is necessary for our development and progress as a species.

TeacherJay Some Answered Questions abilities, decisions, development, diversity, mankind, progress, society, unity

The Bahá’í Faith recognizes the unity of God and of His Prophets, upholds the principle of an unfettered search after truth, condemns all forms of superstition and prejudice, teaches that the fundamental purpose of religion is to promote concord and harmony, that it must go hand-in-hand with science, and that it constitutes the sole and ultimate basis of a peaceful, an ordered and progressive society. It inculcates the principle of equal opportunity, rights and privileges for both sexes, advocates compulsory education, abolishes extremes of poverty and wealth, exalts work performed in the spirit of service to the rank of worship, recommends the adoption of an auxiliary international language, and provides the necessary agencies for the establishment and safeguarding of a permanent and universal peace.

~ Shoghi Effendi, The Bahá’í Faith – The World Religion: A Summary of Its Aims, Teachings and History

I really appreciate this single paragraph that summarizes the beliefs of the Baha’is.  I ran across it in a collection of excerpts of the writings titled “Teachings for the New World Order.”  That term has been used several times during the 20th century and beginning of the 21st.  It was normally following wars, i.e. WWI, WWII and the Cold War, and used to describe the hopes of what would come—more specifically that after all of the death and destruction preceding those times, that people would change, that the world would have to change.

While it seems in those cases the world, though it may never be the same, did revert back to its previous pettiness—prejudice and poverty still persist.  However, as Baha’is we pray for the day when people will put these feelings aside and learn how we can live together and allow religion to be the cohesive force that binds us, not the wedge that divides us.

TeacherJay Shoghi Effendi diversity, independent investigation of truth, international, language, New World Order, poverty, prejudice, progress, science, unity, war, wealth, world peace

But there is need of a superior power to overcome human prejudices, a power which nothing in the world of mankind can withstand and which will overshadow the effect of all other forces at work in human conditions. That irresistible power is the love of God. It is my hope and prayer that it may destroy the prejudice of this one point of distinction between you and unite you all permanently under its hallowed protection. Bahá’u'lláh has proclaimed the oneness of the world of humanity. He has caused various nations and divergent creeds to unite. He has declared that difference of race and color is like the variegated beauty of flowers in a garden. If you enter a garden, you will see yellow, white, blue, red flowers in profusion and beauty — each radiant within itself and although different from the others, lending its own charm to them. Racial difference in the human kingdom is similar. If all the flowers in a garden were of the same color, the effect would be monotonous and wearying to the eye.

Therefore, Bahá’u'lláh hath said that the various races of humankind lend a composite harmony and beauty of color to the whole. Let all associate, therefore, in this great human garden even as flowers grow and blend together side by side without discord or disagreement between them.

~ Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 68

The elimination of prejudices is one of the core beliefs of the Baha’i Faith.  We are not expected to do this on our own, as mentioned in this quote.  Abdu’l-Baha confirms that this endeavor is so great that we require the love of God in order to accomplish it.

A beautiful analogy follows—the variegated skin colors of humans as different types of flowers.  Different, yes, but all equal and all contributing to one great mosaic.  In this way, our diversity can lead to our unity.

TeacherJay Promulgation of Universal Peace, The diversity, God's Love, prejudice, racism, unity, world peace

O Lord! Thou art the Remover of every anguish and the Dispeller of every affliction. Thou art He Who banisheth every sorrow and setteth free every slave, the Redeemer of every soul. O Lord! Grant deliverance through Thy mercy, and reckon me among such servants of Thine as have gained salvation.

~ The Báb, Baha’i Prayer

I first ran across this prayer a few years ago when I first declared as a Baha’i.  However, it was not until a few years later that a friend gave me the Elika Mahony CD, Fire & Gold, in which she sings these words so beautifully that it really had an impact on me.

Of course this is praise for the way in which God’s love and presence can mitigate the difficulties and trials in our lives, but there is more.  It has become a symbol to me of the diversity of the Baha’i Faith and its ability to cross international borders.  Although people in different parts of the world face different afflictions, they can all find redemption and salvation in the same God and this is one of the unifying principles of the Faith.

Mahony’s parents are from Iran, though she was born in the United States, raised in Kenya and now lives in China.  I was in India, on my way to Bangladesh and then Honduras, visiting a friend I knew from NYC who was born in Panama and had also lived in Argentina, who introduced me to her new friend who was India, but had lived in China.  All of us had led different lives, in different places, and yet we all knew this same prayer.

To add to the international flavor, a second woman enters into the song for the following words from Baha’u’llah:

¡OH HIJO DE LA LUZ!
Olvídate de todo menos de mí y entra en comunión con mi espíritu. Esto pertenece a la esencia de mi mandamiento, por tanto vuélvete a él.

~ Baha’u'llah, Palabras Ocultas del Árabe no. 16

in English:

O SON OF LIGHT!
Forget all save Me and commune with My spirit. This is of the essence of My command, therefore turn unto it.

~ Baha’u'llah, The Arabic Hidden Words #16

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