Understanding of the Faith's spiritual teachings

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Understanding of the Faith's spiritual teachings
Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of
Wellington Te Huihuinga Wairua o Te Hahi Bahá'í o
Poneke
PO Box 1652, Wellington 6000, New Zealand. Phone
0064-4-382 8903. Email lsa.wellington_at_xtra.co.nz
Presented by Ramez
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What is the Spirituality? Praying, Meditation,
Enjoyment, Calmness, Peace, (all self-centered
virtues), ? Can we imagine a kind of structure
for an spiritual life?
LOVE
Dr. H. Danesh (Landegg International University)
KNOWLEDGE
DISCIPLINE
Makes
Creates
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There are a lot of samples in holy scripts about
defining and using each of these three elements .

• Hidden Words Love Me, that I may love thee. If
  thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach
  thee. Know this, O servant.
• Thy Paradise is My love thy heavenly home,
  reunion with Me.
• -

LOVE

• Obligatory daily
• prayers.
• Fasting.
• 95 Allahuabha.
• No Backbiting.

• Fasting Prayer These are they who have been
  so inebriated with the wine of Thy manifold
  wisdom that they forsake their couches in their
  longing to celebrate Thy praise and extol Thy
  virtues
• Tablet of Wisdom from Bahaullah Tact and
  Wisdom as prescribed in Holy scriptures and
  tablets

KNOWLEDGE
DISCIPLINE
Makes
Creates
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Now Lets consider whatever is imaginable in our
life Say eating Lunch



Love
Knowledge
Discipline
Thus these three things can be considered as
Building Blocks of any kind of human
activities. Note that these are necessary but not
enough, e.g. prerequisites for teaching, praying
consists more than the above three building
blocks.
Eating Lunch
Attractive Personality, Studying,
Working, Praying,
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Now lets consider Universal House of Justice
with these three rays of light. Note that UHJ is
Freedom from all error as Bahaullah stated it
explicitly. The five year plan,2001 2006
Message from UHJ emphasizes on three core
activities, Study Circles, Devotional Meetings
and Children Classes.
1. Is the evolution of our spirituality based
upon these three core activities? Partially?
Completely? 2. Only study circle is new among
these three activities, why does the UHJ
concentrate most/all of the energy in Bahai
world on these for 5 years? 3. Have you seen 56
minutes video called Building momentum
commissioned by the UHJ, April 2003?

Love


Knowledge
Discipline
Study Circles, Devotional Meetings, Children
Classes
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A concise overview of outcomes of the 3 core
activities in the Bahai world
1. The Lesotho Baha'is hold regular children's
classes, study circles, and devotional meetings.
There is also a youth enrichment program, which
encourages young people to identify their
problems and empowers them to find solutions. (2
December 2003)
2. and projects to help rebuild the society.
(Congo Republic, 9 September 2003) 3. They
reach out to the community by offering devotional
meetings, children's classes and study circles
aimed at developing skills, knowledge, and
spiritual capacity. (PORT VILA, Vanuatu, 9
November 2003) 4. focus more on the development
of the arts within the Baha'i community and
explore possible ways of assisting tutors of
Baha'i study circles and children's classes.
(United Kingdom, 8 September 2003) 5. Baha'is
hold regular children's classes and study
circles, perform in choirs and undertake social
and economic development projects. (Malawi, 19
August 2003) 6. seek to spiritualize
themselves, their families and their communities
through participation in devotional meetings and
study circles, which involve learning about their
own spiritual nature, and acquiring the skills
and motivation to take effective action. (Brazil,
30 March 2003) 7. youth resolving to focus
their activity in systematic action along three
main lines -- the establishment or strengthening
of study circles, devotional meetings, and
community children's classes. Others were also
inspired to start community development programs
and dance-theatre workshops within their
respective communities. (MONTREAL, 1 May 2002)
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• Although people portrayed in one country may have
  come from a different social
• class, educational level and ethnic background
  than those in another, their
• enjoyment of study circles seemed to be at the
  same high level. In Nepal, the
• people decided to build a school and set up
  their own bank -- and went ahead and
• did just that.

Contribution of NEW ZEALAND
Graduates, who are in their late teens or early
20s, return home to help groups of young
teenagers to devise and implement plans of
community service as well as look to their
spiritual, intellectual, and creative
development. "Animators" encourage junior youth
in New Zealand to devote themselves to tasks like
gardening at homes for the elderly, taking young
people with disabilities to entertainment parks,
and taping books for the blind.
Animated...Anisa Beckman (front), Terra Lew, Nava
Derakhshani (second row), Abdullah Norozi, Ezra
Hopkins, Tessa Lew (back row).
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What has happened in Wellington area?
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New Study Circles in Wellington?

• New Study Circle
• Book 3
• In Wellington City
• Starting Time January 4, 2004
• Ending Time -

• New concise Study Circle
• Book 6
• In Wellington City
• Starting Time January 5, 2004
• Ending Time January 9, 2004

There is potential Book 1 and Book 2 participants
as well, if you are interested please contact
Ramez.
Love
Discipline

Knowledge


Need time to make a decision? Note three building
blocks
Participation
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Arts portray life of the spirit United
Kingdom, 8 December 2003 (BWNS) -- British
Baha'is explored creative ways to portray the
themes of a popular study course on spirituality
at a national festival held here last
month. More than 1,200 people attended the
festival, held from 7 to 9 November 2003, in the
historic spa town of Scarborough, on the
northeast coast of England. The Baha'is and
their many guests used the arts and other methods
to portray the themes of "Reflections on the Life
of the Spirit," a course aimed at understanding
prayer, life after death, and the spiritual
nature of human beings. The course, created at
the Ruhi Institute in Colombia, is the first in a
series being used widely by Baha'is around the
world to develop spiritual insights, knowledge
and skills. People who are not Baha'is are also
participating in increasing numbers.
Members of "Soul Tunes" and friends. Singer Atef
is second from the left.
Creators of the theatrical production "Pure."
(Left to right) Jessica Naish (director), Shirin
Youssefian-Maanian (actor), and Annabel Knight
(playwright). Photo by Darius Himes.
Actor Shirin Youssefian-Maanian.
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The worldwide Baha'i community has lost one of
its most cherished figures with the death on 26
November of Ali Akbar Furutan. His wisdom and
gentle sense of humor had contributed greatly to
deepening the understanding of the Faith's
spiritual teachings by the steady stream of
Baha'is from all over the world who come as
pilgrims to the Shrines of their religion.
Mr. Ali Akbar Furutan.
Mr. Furutan.
Mr. Furutan, who carried the rank of Hand of the
Cause of God, was one of the only two surviving
members of this company of senior officers of the
Faith appointed by its late Guardian, Shoghi
Effendi Rabbani, who died in 1957. Mr. Furutan
was 98 years of age, but had maintained a
demanding schedule of activities at the Faith's
World Centre in Haifa, Israel.
Mr. Furutan with Baha'i children and their
teachers, June 2003.