On the New "Baha'i Studies Review": It Speaks Volumes

From the Association for Baha’i Studies: New Zealand blog, I learned of the following. -gw

Baha’i Studies Review Volume 14, 2007

Released by New Publisher

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Bahai Studies Review
Editor: Moojan Momen
Book Review Editor: Daniel Grolin

The Baha’i Studies Review is an academic journal dealing with all aspects of the study of the Baha'i Faith. All papers submitted are subject to a peer review process.

http://www.intellectbooks.co.uk/journals.php?issn=13548697
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The contents of this new volume are:

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The Baha’i Faith and the Perennial Mystical Quest: A Western Perspective,

Julio Savi, 5-22

Jamal Effendi and Sayyid Mustafa Rumi in Celebes: The Context of Early Baha’i Missionary Activity in Indonesia,

Jelle de Vries, 23-38

Baha’i Approaches to Christianity and Islam: Further Thoughts on Developing an Inter-Religious Dialogue,

S Fazel, 39-51

‘Abdu’l-Baha’s Proclamation on the Persecution of Baha’is in 1903,

Ahang Rabbani, 53-67

The Modes and Intentions of Biography,

Graham Hassall, 69-84

A Chronicle of the Babi-Baha’i Communities in Sangsar and Shahmirzad,

Moojan Momen, 85-96

Commentary: Imagining Baha’i Law,

Roshan Danesh, 97-105

The Global Distribution of Baha’is in the 1920s,

Peter Smith, 107-120

Compilation The Baha’i Concept of Evil, 121-127

Obituary: Abu’l-Qasim Afnan (1919–2004)

Iraj Ayman, 129-135

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Book Reviews, 137-153:

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Nusrat’u'llah Muhammad-Husaini, Had rat-i Bab, and Abu’l-Qasim Afnan, ‘Ahd-i A’la,

by Armin Eschraghi

Margit Warburg, Baha’i, by Daniel Grolin

William Garlington, The Baha’i Faith in America, by Peter Smith

Frank Lewis, Rumi: Past and Present, by Bruce Wannell

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http://www.abs.org.nz/blog/?p=81

On Ahmadinejad Is Right: The World Needs the 12th Imam

Barney is on to something. I think he's right. -gw

The world needs the “Hidden Imam” says Ahmadinejad. Could he be right?

Barnabas quotidianus:
Personal diary of John Barnabas (aka Barney) Leith

Tag: Imam Square, uploaded on January 15, 2008 by TfUnQ on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 2.0 Generic

On a Summary to "One Common Faith": Yahoo! to That

From the Yahoo group OneCommonFaith I discover Robert Stockman's summary of the contents of the seminal Baha'i text One Common Faith, a document commissioned by the Universal House of Justice, and published under its supervision by the Bahá’í World Center in 2005. Here is an excerpt. -gw

Section 12: The Response of the Baha'i Community to Humanity's Crisis

20. The Baha'i Cause is equipped to address the challenges facing it. The community's nature and achievements on their own justify the attention of anyone seriously concerned about the crisis of civilization. They are evidence that the world's peoples can learn to live and work as a single race in a single global homeland.

21. This fact underlines the urgency of the successive Plans of expansion and consolidation. Humanity has a right to expect that a body of people committed to unity will increasingly contribute to programs of social betterment that depend on unity. The Baha'i community must grow faster and partner with more and more like-minded organizations.

22. The culture of systematic growth taking root in the community seems to be the most effective response to the aforementioned challenges. Intense and ongoing immersion in the Word frees one from materialistic assumptions and develops a capacity to assist the yearnings for unity. The activities are creating a community of interest and will amplify the community's contribution to public discourse.

23. Fulfilling Baha'u'llah's mandate means carrying out two vital and reciprocal activities: teaching and promoting the betterment of society. A person exploring Baha'u'llah's teachings must gain perspective on both the processes of change worldwide and the implications for his own life.

24. The ideal of the oneness of religion is central, but sharing Baha'u'llah's message is not an interfaith project. The soul seeks certitude; the experience of conversion is not extraneous or incidental, but a pivotal issue that must be addressed.

One Common Faith: A Summary of Its Contents by Robert H. Stockman

This site is for the discussion of the reality that the essence of all religion is one, and for the study of "One Common Faith" by the Universal House of Justice.

OneCommonFaith · "One Common Faith" Commentary Discussion

On Baha'i Reflection Meetings: Standing Room Only in Ottawa

dragfyre does it right on flickr. Wow, his reflection meeting set really catches the Institute Process spirit!

baha'i reflection meetings

Baha'i reflection meetings are full of joy, glad-tidings, silliness, encouragement, and earnest consultation about the goals of the Baha'i community. They're literally a pivotal part of the recent Plans given by the Universal House of Justice. Here's how we do them in Ottawa (and other places, too).

http://www.flickr.com/photos/dragfyre/sets/72157601064854373/

On That That is Green and Chic: Meditation, Maccaws, and the Baha'i Faith

Like Jen's blog, and the critter to the left, the Baha'i Faith is green and chic. -gw

The Baha’i faith believes that meditation is a key for opening the doors to the mysteries of the mind. As such, it is perfect for helping us understand our current behaviors and habits, providing new perspectives and clarity, and a way to transform negative behaviors into positive ones.

Meditation
GreenChic: Natural Living...Simple, Fun, and Fashionable!

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{Photo: "This Macaw believes in "Meditation NOT Medication,"uploaded on April 26, 2007 by MrClean1982 on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 2.0 Generic}

On Abdu'l-Baha's Talk at Stanford: God has created man lofty and noble

If you Google "Baha'i" today, the highest ranking Baha'i club website that comes up is for the Standford University Baha'i Association, the 39th result. Standford is, of course, where Abdu'l-Baha famously visited and gave a talk. Below is an excerpt from that talk. -gw

If the animals are savage and ferocious, it is simply a means for their subsistence and preservation. They are deprived of that degree of intellect which can reason and discriminate between right and wrong, justice and injustice; they are justified in their actions and not responsible. When man is ferocious and cruel toward his fellowman, it is not for subsistence or safety. His motive is selfish advantage and willful wrong. It is neither seemly nor befitting that such a noble creature, endowed with intellect and lofty thoughts, capable of wonderful achievements and discoveries in sciences and arts, with potential for ever higher perceptions and the accomplishment of divine purposes in life, should seek the blood of his fellowmen upon the field of battle. Man is the temple of God. He is not a human temple. If you destroy a house, the owner of that house will be grieved and wrathful. How much greater is the wrong when man destroys a building planned and erected by God! ...

God has created man lofty and noble, made him a dominant factor in creation. He has specialized man with supreme bestowals, conferred upon him mind, perception, memory, abstraction and the powers of the senses. These gifts of God to man were intended to make him the manifestation of divine virtues, a radiant light in the world of creation, a source of life and the agency of constructiveness in the infinite fields of existence. Shall we now destroy this great edifice and its very foundation, overthrow this temple of God, the body social or politic? When we are not captives of nature, when we possess the power to control ourselves, shall we become captives of nature and act according to its exigencies?

» Full Text of Speech * http://www.stanford.edu/group/bahai/history.html

On Belief-o-Matic as a Baha'i Information Vehicle: Surprising or Not

Nenad in Belgrade, Serbia, has taken the Belief-o-Matic spirituality quiz again. Belief-o-Matic has been instrumental in putting the name of the Faith in front of so many. I just wish Belief-net would spell the name "Baha'i" right on their link. -gw

What I've just realized is that my spirituality is not as chaotic as I tend to think. Each time I take the test, the same four or five faiths appear among the top five. Except for the high ranking of Baha'i Faith, which I don't know much about, I can't say I'm surprised by the latest results. My faith really has been an odd mix of the top five for the past ten years or so. So, here it goes:

1. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (100%)
2. Liberal Quakers (79%)
3. Bahá'í Faith (75%)
4. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (74%)
5. Unitarian Universalism (72%)

On Lights in Tonga: Oceans of Fun

http://news.bahai.org/story/461

Natalie is in Tonga, where the Ocean of Light International School is. She is posting about Baha'i life there. -gw

well tonite is a fireside (like a little meeting thing that friends can come to it they want to hear about the bahai faith) and tomorrow is the last day of teachers week here at the Ocean of Light school. then that nite, (every friday night) is youth nite so all the bahai youth get together and go out, and on monday school starts!

http://natsintonga.blogspot.com/2008/01/ok-soo-before-tell-you-about-my-amazing.html

ok so on saturday nite there was a talent nite at Club Kelly (this nite/dance club) and me and kritz did a performance. she sang the first verse of "always be my baby" and then like picked up the beat and kinda remixed it and i joined her on stage and then she was like "REMIX!" and "fergalicious" came on and i did my cheer dance to it haha, but it went really good. and like a ton of the Baha'i youth performed with songs and dances and stuff it was sweet

http://natsintonga.blogspot.com/2008/01/ok-so-on-saturday-nite-there-was-talent.html

On Gleitschirmfliegen, Ruhi Studienkreise, Architektur, Baumanagement, und Sport: The Life of a Baha'i

This is what Toni in Liechtenstein is into. -gw

Hobby : Sport aller Art - spez Gleitschirm fliegen und Judo, Snow boarden und Skitouren,
Hanteln stemmen und joggen
Religion : Baha'i

... Wie gesagt - es ist eine Bestätigung meiner Lebenseinstellung und in der Kombination der durch Baha'u'llah gebrachten Baha'i-Religion und dessen Organisationsform in der es keine persönliche Führer oder Guru mehr gibt - sondern das Leben eigenverantwortlich jedem persönlich übertragen ist- mir auch meine Freiheit im Denken garantiert (ich muss nicht denken , was mir einer vordenkt). ...

http://toniackermann.blogspot.com/2008/01/ist-es-doch-wieder-so-schnell-der-27.html

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Tonis Blog

Baha'i * Gleitschirmfliegen * Ruhi Studienkreise * Architektur * Baumanagement * Sport

Baha'i * paragliding * Ruhi study circles * Architecture * Construction * Sport

On Baha'i Interactive: In a Flash!

Some Bahai interactive links from the Multimedia page of Baha'i.us. -gw

Baha'i 101
This downloadable interactive Flash presentation is full of information about the Baha'i Faith.
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Anthem for the World
A Baha'i-inspired slide show and song, which emphasizes the oneness of humanity.
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Free Baha'i ebooks for your PDA
Enter "Bahai" into the search box to find more than 20 Baha'i books to download onto your personal digital assistant (PDA).

http://www.bahai.us/bahai-multimedia

On a Parent's Concern: Is the Baha'i Faith a Muslim religion?

This came in on a news feed today. -gw
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Baha'i follows far different path than its mother religion of Islam

By Andrew Tevington
Our Faiths

Q: My daughter told us on her last visit that she converted to Baha'i. Her father was upset with her conversion to a Muslim religion, but she said Baha'i is not Muslim. Can you tell us about Baha'i, please? — Bette, Oklahoma City

A: As far as religions go, Baha'i (pronounced buh-HI) is new to the world stage ...

http://newsok.com/article/3197101/1201310053?

On the Man With the Light in His Eyes: Seeker After Truth, Rashid, Rightly Guided

The man with the light in his eyes is Rashid, whom I have posted about before. Walter, Bonita, Tim, Deb (who took the picture), and I visited his home Thursday night. He shared with the friends more of his fascinating journey which has involved the study of many different faith traditions, including, more recently, the Nation of Islam. He is now studying the Baha'i Faith. We listened to his spiritual invocations in Hebrew and Arabic. Rashid has agreed to open his home for a devotional meeting on Thursdays at 5 pm. Rashid is an Arabic given name that means "rightly guided". -gw

On Having a Different Conversation about Religion: An Interfaith Home Gathering

Opening one's home for spiritual gatherings of many kinds, such as devotional meetings, study circles, and neighborhood children's classes, is now a part of Baha'i culture. Anne of Let It Shine opened her home for an interfaith gathering. Good goin', Anne! -gw

Tonight I had an interfaith gathering at my home based on the Different Conversation About Religion developed by the Interfaith Youth Core. We started out by introducing ourselves, and happily we found out we had a diverse group with nine participants from a variety of backgrounds including Lutheran, Jewish, United Church of Christ, Moravian, Catholic, Coptic Christian, and Baha'i.

Read the full post here: http://anne99.blogspot.com/2008/01/let-all-associate-in-this-great-human.html

On Haifa: A City like Any City Until You Look Up

The Shrine of the Bab and the Baha'i Gardens never fail to awe. -gw

EL just got back from a trip to Israel.

We were all concerned for her when she left, because all you hear about the middle east these days is the terror, the bombings, and how unstable the region is.

She had none of those experiences. She showed me pictures of the city of Haifa, where the world headquarters are located for the Baha’i faith. They were extraordinary.

The centerpoint of Haifa is a beautiful domed building, sitting halfway up Mt. Carmel. Below and above are a total of 18 immaculately terraced gardens, that you must crane your neck from looking all the way up at it from a pristinely rounded street. The pictures struck me that I was looking at some gigantic, heavenly postcard.

EL told me that a hundred or so years ago, there was nothing there but a barren, empty mountain. Now the city around it is built up and looks like any other city. And then you look up at this mountain and the terraces and it’s, well, … heavenly.

http://imstartingover.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/a-reason-to-look-up/

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{Photo: Uploaded on July 3, 2007 by Michele & Meyer Potashman on flickr}

On Thinking About a Baha'i Prayer: Connecting with What Is Good in the World

Beautiful picture and prayer. -gw

I am looking to connect with a higher universal whole, and to completely lose myself, embracing only what is right in this world. I have been thinking a lot these past two days about a Baha'i prayer that Makini introduced me to on Wednesday night: "Let my soul like a mirror, and my heart like an empty reed, to receive and reflect the goodness of God." Only by losing the ego, the binding desires that tie me to my bodily, singular SELF, would I be able to be connect with what is good in this world.

http://thedailyzhing.blogspot.com/2008/01/we-never-change.html

On Embracing the Baha'i Faith, Full-on, Gradually: It's seriously changing my life

Sian's Baha'i card has come. -gw

Embracing the Baha'i Faith full-on, gradually. :) It's seriously changing my life and I'm finding out more about myself and the world around me. I've found that for many, modern life is war and that's why some friendships don't last, but forgiveness is key. :) I've forgiven but am also compromising, saying that I forgive but won't take back. Forgiving but not forgetting, if you will. I'm stronger, yay! ...

I know, I'm 18, but after a while, I thought, "I was 8 TEN YEARS AGO?!? WHEN DID I GET THIS OLD?!?!" But hahaha I'm growing young again. :D Also, my Baha'i card has come, but I have not yet received it! Maybe it's still in the mailbox or somewhere in my house. But once I get it, I'm totally going to the feasts and pioneering and everything! =D And pilgrimage, too, of course!

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mmm... chicken tondi...
Now show me how to shine---I want to be free from desolation and despair

http://sianparis.livejournal.com/2644.html

Name: Sian x Paris
Bio: Hello, I'm an immigrant from GJ. I come in peace.

http://sianparis.livejournal.com/profile

On the Manifestations of God: Like Perfect Mirrors

Wednesday in our study circle we studied the section in Ruhi Book 1 on polishing off the dross on the mirror. Then again, Thursday night during our home visit to Rashid's we talked about the metaphor of the mirror. It reminded me of this section from Anna's Presentation for teaching the Baha'i Faith. -gw

•So although God’s existence is far beyond our understanding, His love touches our lives and our beings ceaselessly.

•The way this love flows to us is through His Eternal Covenant. According to this Eternal Covenant, God never leaves us alone and without guidance. Whenever humanity moves away from Him and forgets His Teachings, a Manifestation of God appears and makes His Will and Purpose known to us.

•The word “manifest” means to reveal, to bring forth something that was not known before.

•The Manifestations of God are those special Beings Who reveal to humanity the Word and the Will of God; thus when we listen to Them, we are responding to the Call of God.

•There is an example from the physical world that helps us to understand the concept of “Manifestation” as taught by Bahá’u’lláh. In this world, the sun is the source of all warmth and light, without which life would not exist on the planet. Yet the sun itself does not descend to earth, and if we tried to approach it, we would be totally consumed.

•But suppose we take a well-polished mirror and point it towards the sun. In it we will see the image of the sun, and the more perfectly polished the mirror, the more perfect the image will be.

•The Manifestations of God are like perfect Mirrors that reflect the Light of God in all its Splendor. And all these Mirrors reflect the same Light.

•While God is beyond our reach, these perfect Beings come to us from time to time, live among us, give us guidance, and fill us with the energy we need to progress, materially and spiritually.

http://www.slideshare.net/mrmeek/bahai-faith-ap-full-text-for-teacher-review

On Wisdom, Goodness, and Deep Faith: Visiting Grandma's and Vice-Grandma's

Oh my God, is this post beautiful! Click over and read it in its entirety with photos. -gw

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Grandma’s visit

& visit to vice-grandma’s:)

All these years that I had minimal contact with my Iraqi grandparents I considered this wonderful couple from Iran, Rosa and Mozaffar, vice-grandparents of a sort. Before Christmas I learned Mozaffar had passed away……and I immediately wanted to visit Rosa. Today I took the bus, train, metro and bus to go to Tapiola and met Rosa and her wonderful son, a real continuation of Mozaffar.

After 2,5 hours of intense and interesting conversation (and cookies:) we ended with these photos - how strange that Rosa has at one point carried someone twice her size in her womb… the wonders of evolution;) It’s also fun to think Rosa remembers me from the times I was half her height - now she’s half my height!

As I hinted before, the wisdom, goodness and deep faith (Baha’i faith, by the way) of Mozaffar lives on in his son, and it was really an honour to have some very fascinating conversations with him. I wish everyone had a chance to have sincere and respectful conversations with representatives of different world-views and faiths such as I did today.

I want to thank the Namdars and wish them all the best in their trip to the Holy Land and then to America. May God protect you and be with you.

http://emilanton.wordpress.com/2008/01/25/grandmas-visit-visit-to-vice-grandmas/

On Aggression: Lessons from the BMAC and the Baha'i Writings

Because of the work I do, one of the most interesting PowerPoint presentations from the Baha'i Medical Association of Canada, linked to in the previous post, was the one on "Violence and bullying in children and youth." Even just the definitions and categorizations alone are of interest.

For example, I learned that aggression need not be just bodily. According to the presentation, there are two categories of aggression: hostile (aka reactive or affective) and instrumental (aka proactive or predatory), the latter being the more concerning.

The qualities of instrumental aggression are: hides aggressive acts, very careful to protect self when aggressive, looks proud of being aggressive, plans aggressive acts.

Living at this time in human history, one can be the recipient of aggressive acts even sitting in front of a computer screen. Hackers, spammers, phishers, and stalkers all practice instrumental aggression, and there are other malevolent actors on the Internet.

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In man here are two natures: his spiritual or higher nature and his material or lower nature.... Every good habit, every noble quality belongs to man's spiritual nature, whereas all his imperfections and sinful actions are born of his material nature.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 60)

Let [the friends] never be defeated by the malice of the people, by their aggression and their hate, no matter how intense.

(Selections From the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 24)

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{Photo: Uploaded on September 19, 2007 by Dominic's pics on flickr, licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic}

On the Baha'i Medical Association of Canada: Conference Presentations

Baha'u'llah came to heal the world. From the Baha'i Toolbar, under the Baha'i News heading, I learned of the Baha'i Medical Association Of Canada, which held its most recent conference this past December. Here were the presenters and their presentations. -gw

Dr. Nathalie Auger, MD MSC FRCPC

MOVING TOWARDS A NEW PARADIGM IN MEDICINE:

The role of social determinants of health

Pdf

james Ferguson

COMMUNITY HEALTH AIDE PRACTITIONERS:

A model of health care in rural Alaska & Guyana

Pps

Dr. Abdu'l-Missagh Ghadirian, M.D., FRCPC

THE ROLE OF SPIRITUALITY IN THE PREVENTION OF DEPRESSION

Pdf

Parviz Ghadirian, Ph.D.

EPIDEMIOLOGY OF NUTRITION AND CANCER: AN OVERVIEW

Pps

Dr. Chris Greenaway

INFECTIOUS DISEASE AND PUBLIC HEALTH IN AN INTERCONNECTED WORLD

Pdf

Dr. John Guilfoyle, MD CCFP FCFP

PREJUDICE: ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR HEALTH

Pdf

Dr. Harb Kang

PLACEBO EFFECT

PART 1

PART 2

Dr. John LeBlanc

VIOLENCE AND BULLYING IN CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Pdf

Ron Matthews

EXPLORING THE HEALING POWER OF BEING HUMAN

Pdf

Dr. Ashkan Monfared

MEDICINE AND MYSTICISM

Pdf

Dr. Nyassa Navidzadeh

SOCIAL DETERMINANTS OF MENTAL HEALTH AND VIOLENCE

Pdf

Taravat Ostovar

SUICIDE AMONG ABORIGINAL POPULATION OF CANADA:

SOCIAL AND SPIRITUAL DETERMINANTS

Pdf

Dr. Nader Sharifi, BSc, MD, CCFP, ASAM, CCHP

VIOLENCE, RISK ASSESSMENT, AND PUBLIC SAFETY

Pdf

Dr. David Smith

BECOMING A SOURCE OF SOCIAL GOOD

Pdf

Dr. Philip Squires

MATERIALISM IN RESPECT TO CHILD HEALTH

Pdf

Dr. Jean-Paul Vader

WHERE IS THE SPIRITUAL?

A missing link in the struggle to improve population health

Pdf

Dr. Rahi Victory

VIOLENCE, POVERTY, AND WOMEN'S HEALTH

Pdf

Dr. Farhan Yazdani

ETHICAL DECISION MAKING:

Meeting the Daily Multidisciplinary and Multicultural Challenges

Pdf