A Baha'i Sunday!

I went to a Baha'i meeting! And I am kicking myself for not taking pictures but I was just enjoying the experience so much that I didn't think about it! I met some really nice people and they were so open to answering my questions, it was fantastic. They were so welcoming and loved talking about God and His love.

So here's how it went down:

I walked into the room where there were some chairs circled up. The person I had been corresponding with over email (Ken) came in and had and introduced himself. We started talking about the faith, why I was there, and he introduced me to everyone. We had Ken, Nicole, her husband (I can't seem to remember his name), her three children, as well as Marsha, Anya, Stella and Me! There weren't many of us there because the Sunday meeting is not the pinnacle of their worship. They have study groups throughout the week, firesides, group events, and all of these are designed to be a form of worship. I got the impression they they were equal in quality and importance to the Sunday worship so you could go to any and be uplifted.

We got started with a song played on a stereo. This was funny because the song was in Spanish and no one knew Spanish but it was more to listen to than to sing along with. I thought that was just a one time thing but the next time they put on a song it was in Arabic (The Baha'i have their roots in Pakistan) but they had the translation for it and they let me read it as the song was playing. Then the kids went to a children's class.

Then they said that the topic that day was Racism but wanted to do a little introduction to the faith since there was a visitor (me!). Marsha, who was leading the meeting, handed out something she had printed from the website and we each took a turn reading. They were totally prepared for me and there was a lot of discussion that led to a lot of the information I'll share below about the Bha'i beliefs:

God: God is unknowable. We will never see the face of God. But we can grow closer to Him by learning from His Manifestations (prophets). We can also come closer to Him by taking part in service and making sure that our motives are selfless.

Purpose of Life: To progress here and for eternity. Life is like a baby's time spent in the womb. We are growing and developing and the more that we are able to grow in this life the further along we'll be in the next life.

Focus: Unity. People around the world are meant to be unified and work together.

Organization: There are no clergy. There are nine local leaders, who are elected, and representatives are chosen to elect nine national leaders. The highest authority (The Universal House of Justice) are nine people who are elected to represent the members throughout the world. They are not elected based on race, gender, ethnicity, finances, or prestige. They are elected based on their character alone and are expected to represent every member and their race, gender, ethnicity, etc. When the Universal House of Justice meets, their decision is considered to be the Word of God. This is not true for the local and national authorities.

Prophets: There are greater and lesser prophets. The greater prophets are called Manifestations of God (ex. Krishna, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha, Zorastra). They usher in a new method of serving God. They represent humanity progressing to the point where they are ready to receive more from God. Lesser prophets are those who assisted the greater prophets (ex given from the bible: Daniel, John the baptist, Isaiah). There has only been one time where there have been two manifestations at the same time. That is the Bab and Baha'u'llah who ushered in the most recent progression. This is not the last nor the most important time. There will be another Manifestation of God and the world will progress further.

Pre and After Life: There was no existence before this life. As was said in "The Purpose of Life" we use this time to first start developing. After this life we continue to progress. The after life is not clearly understood but we know that we will continue to progress and we will know and be with our loved ones. There is no physical hell. It is more a state of mind or taking bad things (anger, bitterness, grudges) with you into the next life or putting a barrier between you and God.

Satan: Not a physical being. Satan is a representation of the animal nature of man. Evil does not really exist it is just an absence of good. When goodness is invited back in it eliminates the evil like light entering a dark room.

Prayers: Suggested everyday, morning and night. There is a prayer book but you can also use your own words. Most expressed that they liked using the prayer book because there are different prayers for different situations and they have A LOT of wisdom in them. So the prayer helps you to look at your situation through a different perspective.

Fasting: The Baha'i calendar is made up of 19 months, 19 days each. The new year begins with a 19 day fast. You fast from sun up to sun down and focus on service, bringing peace, dispelling anger, and focusing on unity.

Health Code: There is no specific health code but they do not take things into their bodies that impair the mind like "recreaional drugs, alcohol, etc". You won't be dismissed from the religion if you do these things but they believe in honoring the body.

Disciplinary Action: It is possible to "lose your administrative rights," but this does not happen often. What you do in your own personal life is not monitored or regulated by the religion but if you are doing something to damage the community you may be asked to leave. The example given was bringing alcohol to a Baha'i meeting. You would be asked not to do that anymore but if you were persistent then you would be asked to not participate but are always welcome back if this can be corrected. There are no clergy and you are forbidden from confessing sins to each other. The local authorities are always open to helping direct you to the resources you need but you do not give your sins to anyone but God.

Scripture: There is no one book that the Baha'i focus on. There are many books that they gain knowledge from.

Joining the Religion: When you decide to join you fill out a card and register as a Baha'i. This is called "declaring". There are no requirements other than a desire to join.

The Bahai meeting is usually from 10:00 AM to 11:30 AM but they let me stay and chat with all of them until 1:00PM! I had a great time and I'll be writing about some more personal insights from them in later posts!