On Jess Attending Ruhi: Studying about Truthfulness and Sizing Up Baha'i Rap

From Jess, "a quick recap" of her second Ruhi class. She has changed the name of her blog to Tangential Thoughts, by the way. -gw

...the other two students were a newly married couple (as of May 19!) and the husband has just recently declared, so he is in a very similar situation to me as I am trying to learn about the Faith.

This week we discussed truthfulness and how difficult it can be to be truthful at all times. We studied these few quotes from the Writings:

Virtues Poster ~ Truthfulness

Inscriptions (upper right):
~The security and tranquillity of nations depend on truthfulness
~Truthfulness exerts a powerful influence
~The foundation of all human virtues
~Steadfastness under duress

"Truthfulness is the foundation of all human virtues."

"Without truthfulness progress and success, in all the worlds of God, are impossible for any soul."

"Beautify your tongues, O people, with truthfulness, and adorn your souls with the ornament of honesty."

"They who dwell within the tabernacle of God, and are established upon the seats of everlasting glory, will refuse, though they be dying of hunger, to stretch their hands and seize unlawfully the property of their neighbor, however vile and worthless he may be."

This last quote was the meatiest and we spent a bit of time talking about it. I couldn't help thinking of those mothers who stole cans of formula and diapers for their babies during the Katrina crisis. Would that count as taking unlawfully? I think I would steal for Ella if need be to keep her healthy and safe. It gave me a lot to think about.

We also talked about all sorts of other subjects (being that I am the tangent QUEEN, hence the blog title change, lol!) like the burial rules and the ban on alcohol. At the beginning and end of the classes, our tutor Mercedeh, likes to play music. The first song was choir music and if I hadn't known any better I would have thought I was listening to a Christian church choir! I have no idea why I was surprised since Baha'is are in every country and every ethnic group in the world. I guess I was expecting exotic music with a Middle Eastern flare.

"Justice Leeg, the originators of Baha'i Rap, reunited for a powerful performance" at the 21st Annual DC Youth Congress in 2004, martinsquest.com

The one that really got me was the selection she played at the end. She played Baha'i RAP! I had to try so hard to not giggle through the whole thing because it felt so irreverent to me. To think that my childhood church choir director would refer to a certain HYMNAL as "newfangled" and "jazzy" and the fact that I had a hard time the first time I visited a contemporary church service, rap spiritual music is something I just can't do. :-)

Jess, "A Few Odds and Ends," Tangential Thoughts

On Utterance: An enlightened man of wisdom should primarily speak with words as mild as milk

I remember when Jess changed the name of her blog from Rambles, Reviews and Rants to Tangential Thoughts. I really admired that. Jess is not a Baha'i, but has taken a Ruhi Book 1. For some reason she decided she didn't like Rambles, Reviews and Rants, so she changed the name. I always thought it was because she didn't like the "Rants" part. To a great extent our culture extols ranting as acceptable behavior, yet consider the following. -gw

Web definitions for rant
harangue: a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn - Definition in context

rant: Definition, Synonyms and Much More from Answers.com
rant v. , ranted , ranting , rants . v.intr. To speak or write in an angry or violent manner; rave.www.answers.com/topic/rant - 62k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

rant - definition from dictionary.die.net
rant n 1: a loud bombastic declamation expressed with strong emotion [syn: harangue, ranting] 2: pompous or pretentious talk or writing [syn:dictionary.die.net/rant - 6k - Cached - Similar pages - Note this

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rant+definition
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In the Tablet to Mánikchí Sáhib by Bahá'u'lláh we find the following content, according to a synopsis. gw

ix Admonition to combine speech with action.
Impact of speech is conditioned upon the speaker being in step with the needs and expectations of the hearer. Bahá'u'lláh encourages the exercise of moderation in speech and links soft speech to the nurturing efficacy of milk, whereas coarse speech is equated to a sharp dagger. In the Lawh-i-Maqsud and elsewhere Bahá'u'lláh expounds on this topic. [19]

http://bahai-library.com/index.php5?file=bahaullah_lawh_manikchi_neshati.html

No man of wisdom can demonstrate his knowledge save by means of words. This showeth the significance of the Word as is affirmed in all the Scriptures, whether of former times or more recently. For it is through its potency and animating spirit that the people of the world have attained so eminent a position. Moreover words and utterances should be both impressive and penetrating. However, no word will be infused with these two qualities unless it be uttered wholly for the sake of God and with due regard unto the exigencies of the occasion and the people.

The Great Being saith: Human utterance is an essence which aspireth to exert its influence and needeth moderation. As to its influence, this is conditional upon refinement which in turn is dependent upon hearts which are detached and pure. As to its moderation, this hath to be combined with tact and wisdom as prescribed in the Holy Scriptures and Tablets.

Every word is endowed with a spirit, therefore the speaker or expounder should carefully deliver his words at the appropriate time and place, for the impression which each word maketh is clearly evident and perceptible. The Great Being saith: One word may be likened unto fire, another unto light, and the influence which both exert is manifest in the world. Therefore an enlightened man of wisdom should primarily speak with words as mild as milk, that the children of men may be nurtured and edified thereby and may attain the ultimate goal of human existence which is the station of true understanding and nobility. And likewise He saith: One word is like unto springtime causing the tender saplings of the rose-garden of knowledge to become verdant and flourishing, while another word is even as a deadly poison. It behoveth a prudent man of wisdom to speak with utmost leniency and forbearance so that the sweetness of his words may induce everyone to attain that which befitteth man’s station.

Bahá'u'lláh, Tablets of Bahá'u'lláh revealed after the Kitab-i-Aqdas (Wilmette: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1988) pp. 172-173
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It is my hope that I have avoided anything resembling a rant, either of my own or other's, on Baha'i Views. I think of Sholeh and Dan's comments here on the recent post "On Negative Attention-Seeking in the Blogosphere: Have you ever noticed?":

Sholeh: I find that the filters that most people would have in the physical world vanish like smoke when faced with ... perceived hurts. It is so easy to push that "post" button...

Dan: it's even worse on the internet than in real life - the perception of anonymity and detachment from social and physical reality can really bring out the worst in people.

and what Sholeh is describing is sort of like email rage... our thoughts flow much faster through a keyboard than when we are talking to a real live person - no visual cues or tone of voice to respond to.

The Baha'i Internet Agency has provided wonderful guidance for Baha'is who are communicating on the Internet, as I have posted on previously. -gw

Translating Bahá’í principles for personal conduct into the virtual world of the Internet can be challenging. Below are selected quotations from the Bahá’í Writings that pertain to our quest for a standard of communication that goes well beyond the prevailing Internet ethos of avoiding provocation or giving offense to an individual or group.

http://www.abs.org.nz/documents/Guidelines%20for%20Internet%20Communication.pdf

"Rants" and "Baha'i" just don't go together. Bloggers looking to represent what the Faith truly stands for choose soft speech that is like milk rather than coarse speech that is like a dagger. It is the Baha'i way. -gw

On Celebrating with the Baha'is: Baha'u'llah's Birthday Like Christmas

"Dancing and Feasting Iran 18th century CE Persian ceramic tile," uploaded on June 6, 2006 by mharrsch on flickr

Friend Jess went to a Birth of Baha'u'llah celebration. Here is part of her description. -gw

We were delighted to immediately spot a few people that we knew. We saw the sister of a woman we are in Ruhi with and it turns out that the original house party I attended in the spring was at her uncle's house and this party was being held in another one of her uncle's house. The Bahai's all seem to be interconnected! What was very interesting to me is that the party welcomed everyone- very young to quite old. The youngest party guest was a week old and was held by her very protective mother the entire evening. Bob and I were befriended by a really nice older gentleman named Gerald, who it turns out was a surgeon and is now the top cardiologist consultant for the Veterans Association in D.C. His wife had been a Baha'i for 20+ years and he just recently converted in the last few years. He was so helpful the entire evening, keeping us company, answering our questions and just being a really delightful companion.

It turns out we were celebrating Baha'u'llah's birthday! Apparently there were several house parties being held all over the Northern Virginia area and the one Naz brought us to was being held specifically for seekers of the Faith. Out of a 100 or so guests half were not Baha'is. Later on in the evening a beautiful Baha'i woman got up and spoke to the group giving a brief history of the Faith and the core tenet's that Baha'is believe in along with talking about Baha'u'llah since the party was to honor Him.

Naz told me that Baha'u'llah's birthday holds a similar significance to Christmas for Christians (obviously!) and that Baha'is usually celebrate on the Eve of the 12th. So, today is Baha'u'llah's birthday and while in years past the date slid by with no significance at all, today I really feel like it is a special day. How nice to have another special day to add to my year!

Jess, "Baha'u'llah's Birthday," Tangential Thoughts

"In celebration of the Birth of Baha'u'llah," uploaded on November 12, 2006 by frackers23 on flickr who adds: "Picture taken by David Biesack (gnuru). I borrowed it under the Creative Commons license, added the quote to it, and share the completed project here with you under the same creative commons license (as required by the photographer). Enjoy! :-) "

On Hairdressers as Natural Helpers: She then asked me about Baha'u'llah

When I begin my master's program I took a course on counseling that referenced the significance of "natural helpers," those who provide emotional support to others as a natual part of their jobs. A hairdresser or barber often can have a positive effect on the mental health of many people over the course of a day. Dear blogger friend and hairdresser Jess is such a natural helper.

A truth for me, working in the mental health field, is that following a religious practice is an enormous assistance to maintaining a positive mental state. Jess has written about how she provides a listening ear for her clients but that people in her profession usually need to avoid the subject of religion with their clients. As she writes in this post, when there is receptivity, even this rule of thumb can be ignored. -gw

I had a client here today who is a very nice woman but she has a lot of personal problems, the two significant ones being that she battles an eating disorder and her marriage is in a rough patch. I put some foils in her hair and began to work on her daughter's hair so she went into the playroom off the kitchen to watch TV. Bob's and my Ruhi study books are on a bookshelf in the playroom and she picked one up and flipped through it.

Earlier we had been talking about church. She asked me if I had been lately and when I responded, "no", she said she hadn't either and she felt guilty. She mentioned that she needed an evening study group more than a weekend sermon to help her along and I told her a little about the Ruhi group Bob and I participating in. She seemed vaguely interested but I didn't push the issue because it isn't my place as her hairstylist to be discussing her spirituality with her.

So, I guess after our brief chat she saw the Ruhi books, picked one up and leafed through it and then returned to me with questions. The most notable being, "Do Baha'is believe Jesus is the Son of God and He died for our sins?" I answered her as best I could telling her that yes Baha'is do believe Jesus is the Son of God and died on the cross but their interpretation of the resurrection is a bit different than the evangelical Christian one. I briefly explained how Baha'is accept many faiths as leading to the same God, Christianity being one of them. She then asked me about Baha'u'llah, who He is and what He had to say. Oh, boy. I told her a bit more that I know and gave her a comparison of sorts to help her understand. I told her that Baha'u'llah is considered by Baha'is to be the most recent Prophet from God. The Bab could be compared to John the Baptist, Baha'u'llah to Jesus and Abdu'l-Baha to Paul.

She had many more questions and wanted to know about my study group. I then told her I thought the best thing to do if she was really interested would be to take one of my Baha'i books to read and if she still had questions or was interested in exploring further to let me know. She took Moojen Momens The Baha'i Faith with her when she left. I also gave her information about Ocean, the online concordance of sorts for all religious texts.

We'll see what happens. I have to admit I felt unprepared to answer her questions because I am still new and learning myself. And I am not a Baha'i!

Jess, "And so it begins..." Tangential Thoughts

{Re-posted with permission}

On God: "You are loved and so are they"

Already familiar to regular readers of this blog, given the meaty excerpts from her posts that have been reposted here, Jess continues in her pursuit of personal truth, as she reports on Rambles, Reviews and Rants:

...for me, this whole process of trying to figure out religion, what I actually have faith in and why I believe what I believe became clear to me last night while watching... two dramatic movies. Religion gives humans comfort that they are important enough to still exist once they die. I do believe in God and I do believe that I am a spiritual being. Religion allows humans to process and have the ability to articulate what they think their purpose on Earth is and what they believe is going to happen to them once they die. It is all on such a grand scale that I cannot really process those big ideas without a tangible God and a tangible afterlife.

I wouldn't dare to presume to suggest that I know what God is, how He exists and what His precise role in humanity is. I do believe that He knows humanity's weaknesses and strengths and our intelligence and spiritual capabilities because He created us. He knows us and He provided guideposts for humanity along the way in the form of prophets. Because of these prophets religions formed. And in my opinion that is where things got off track. Every human being wants to be important in God's eyes and have assurance of a place in the afterlife (whatever that is). Because death is a huge unknown and we are taught that the end of this life will lead to a spiritual life with God, practitioners of each religion have become over zealous in their belief systems. They need the assurance that they are right and they will know and be with God when they die. It is easier to feel assured of your place in the grand scheme of things if you believe there is only one path and you are on it. It takes a lot of the hard questions away and allows peace of mind.

At this time I believe that all the prophets of God had divine messages. Choosing to only hear the message of one prophet gives you only a few pieces of a giant, unsolvable jigsaw puzzle. The more messages you hear the more pieces you gain and the more understanding you will possess. I will never fully comprehend God though I would like to try and hear the messages that He has sent to humanity. As I have read and studied various religions over the past few months I have found valuable nuggets of truth in everything that I have read.

I believe that Moses, Abraham, Jesus, Muhammad, Buddha and Baha'u'llah were all divine prophets from God. I'm sure there are many others who I just haven't discovered yet. If I am lucky enough I will be able to study what each prophet came to teach humanity. Instead of focusing on who is right and who is wrong the focus should be on how little time we have to learn all the things God has given to us to be able to have a better understanding of Him. I have no idea what the afterlife holds for me. I believe that I will continue to exist and that I will be closer to God in whatever incarnation I become next if I am able to learn enough while I am here. My job on Earth isn't to try and save anyone else or to lead them in the right direction towards God- I am busy enough trying to get my own self ready to be worthy of Him. It is my job to be kind, considerate, loving, loyal, selfless, responsible, generous, careful and reliable to all those who are a part of my life. And it is my job to try and help someone who is less fortunate than me have a more prosperous life so they too can find their own way to God.

In one of my very favorite children's books by Douglas Wood, "Old Turtle and the Broken Truth", a beautiful truth falls from the sky. When it lands on Earth it breaks. Some people find part of the broken truth and it reads, "You are Loved". They are so enamored with their beautiful truth that they are satisfied with the piece that they have and don't bother looking for the other half. After many, many years of reverance of the broken truth a little girl strikes out on her own and searches out a wise old turtle to find the missing part of humanity's beautiful broken truth. Old turtle gives her the missing piece and when she puts the two pieces of the truth together it reads, "You are Loved and So are They."

Jess, "Tangential Thoughts," Rambles, Reviews and Rants