On Spiritual Seeking: Jess' Baha'i Encounter
Here is Jess' description of her recent meeting with local Baha'is as posted on Rambles, Reviews and Rants.
Monday, April 24, 2006, "My Baha'i Encounter."
As promised yesterday, I am going to try and attempt a more detailed version of my evening spent with Baha'is.
When I arrived at the home where the gathering was held, I was warmly greeted. The teenagers stayed below in the basement and I was ushered to a beautiful formal sitting room where three Baha'is were to talk with me. The American woman, Eve, did most of the talking, but the other two added bits here and there. The two women are both probably about my mother's age and both converted in the last five years. The man, who was also the host of the party and the owner of the home I was in, was younger, and was born in Iran to a Muslim father and a Baha'i mother. Anyway, all three were very enthusiastic and full of information.
I began by telling them how I became interested in the Baha'i faith many years ago in a comparative religions course at the local community college. I mentioned that I had read bits and pieces here and there when I stumbled across it since I first learned of the faith but that I had recently began a deeper study. I talked at length about blogging....Eve, the American woman was the most interested in my online Baha'i friendships and seemed very fascinated that most of what I've learned has been via the internet. At any rate, all three were also surprised that I have read a couple Baha'i books and have a basic knowledge of the religion's doctrine, history and founding members. The man opened up his adjoining study and gave me a couple more Baha'i prayer and devotional books. They are both pocket sized and have the writings of Baha'u'llah in them. Eve promised to loan me other Baha'i books and I look forward to reading them.
Eve told me about Firesides, which are Baha'i meetings. There is usually a main speaker and then the rest of the attendees sit around after the speaker has finished his message and discuss it. They all three made it very clear that Baha'is believe in a personal relationship with God. No clergy are necessary in this faith. I was educated about the Baha'i Universal House of Justice and told how elections are held on local, national and international levels. I was shown pictures in a book of the shrine in Haifa, Israel and told that it is now one of the seven wonders of the modern world. The gardens and terraces really are breathtakingly beautiful. The man got out his own photo albums and showed me pictures of his pilgrimage to Israel.
There are so many other details of that full evening that I could include but it would be like trying to transcribe a conversation here from my memory. That was really what it was like, sitting down with friends and having a good long chat. I got to ask lots of questions and they asked me a lot of questions. I learned many fascinating things from each of them.
The one thing that really sticks in my mind from that evening was something that Eve told me. We were talking about the Christian belief in Heaven and Hell and what Baha'is believe of the afterlife. She said that she had once heard another Baha'i compare our lives on Earth to that of a baby in a mother's womb. As a baby grows and develops in the womb its body is growing to support it in another world that it has no concept of. Everything that happens to the baby in the womb happens so it can function properly the moment it is born, in a totally different environment. Just like a baby being born, when we die we will be spiritually ready to be with God. This life is our spiritual womb. The more growth you achieve spiritually here the closer you will be to God once you die. There is no hell as Christians believe it to be. Hell for Baha'is is an absolute separation from God and spiritual death in this physical life. Someone like Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy or anyone who has led a dissolute, worthless life will be too immature spiritually to commune with God in the afterlife. And that is Hell.
I look forward to more encounters with Baha'is. Eve and I exchanged information so I hope to connect with her soon and either attend another event or borrow some of her books so I can continue reading!
As promised yesterday, I am going to try and attempt a more detailed version of my evening spent with Baha'is.
When I arrived at the home where the gathering was held, I was warmly greeted. The teenagers stayed below in the basement and I was ushered to a beautiful formal sitting room where three Baha'is were to talk with me. The American woman, Eve, did most of the talking, but the other two added bits here and there. The two women are both probably about my mother's age and both converted in the last five years. The man, who was also the host of the party and the owner of the home I was in, was younger, and was born in Iran to a Muslim father and a Baha'i mother. Anyway, all three were very enthusiastic and full of information.
I began by telling them how I became interested in the Baha'i faith many years ago in a comparative religions course at the local community college. I mentioned that I had read bits and pieces here and there when I stumbled across it since I first learned of the faith but that I had recently began a deeper study. I talked at length about blogging....Eve, the American woman was the most interested in my online Baha'i friendships and seemed very fascinated that most of what I've learned has been via the internet. At any rate, all three were also surprised that I have read a couple Baha'i books and have a basic knowledge of the religion's doctrine, history and founding members. The man opened up his adjoining study and gave me a couple more Baha'i prayer and devotional books. They are both pocket sized and have the writings of Baha'u'llah in them. Eve promised to loan me other Baha'i books and I look forward to reading them.
Eve told me about Firesides, which are Baha'i meetings. There is usually a main speaker and then the rest of the attendees sit around after the speaker has finished his message and discuss it. They all three made it very clear that Baha'is believe in a personal relationship with God. No clergy are necessary in this faith. I was educated about the Baha'i Universal House of Justice and told how elections are held on local, national and international levels. I was shown pictures in a book of the shrine in Haifa, Israel and told that it is now one of the seven wonders of the modern world. The gardens and terraces really are breathtakingly beautiful. The man got out his own photo albums and showed me pictures of his pilgrimage to Israel.
There are so many other details of that full evening that I could include but it would be like trying to transcribe a conversation here from my memory. That was really what it was like, sitting down with friends and having a good long chat. I got to ask lots of questions and they asked me a lot of questions. I learned many fascinating things from each of them.
The one thing that really sticks in my mind from that evening was something that Eve told me. We were talking about the Christian belief in Heaven and Hell and what Baha'is believe of the afterlife. She said that she had once heard another Baha'i compare our lives on Earth to that of a baby in a mother's womb. As a baby grows and develops in the womb its body is growing to support it in another world that it has no concept of. Everything that happens to the baby in the womb happens so it can function properly the moment it is born, in a totally different environment. Just like a baby being born, when we die we will be spiritually ready to be with God. This life is our spiritual womb. The more growth you achieve spiritually here the closer you will be to God once you die. There is no hell as Christians believe it to be. Hell for Baha'is is an absolute separation from God and spiritual death in this physical life. Someone like Jeffrey Dahmer or Ted Bundy or anyone who has led a dissolute, worthless life will be too immature spiritually to commune with God in the afterlife. And that is Hell.
I look forward to more encounters with Baha'is. Eve and I exchanged information so I hope to connect with her soon and either attend another event or borrow some of her books so I can continue reading!
2 comments:
George, of course I don't mind if you borrow our picture =). I hadn't connected the skink with the flooding...=).
Those meetings sound awesome...I'm discovering that each Baha'i community is a little different and that's awesome. :-)
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