"Consort with the followers of all religions in a spirit of friendliness and fellowship." Baha'u'llah
Over the past few years, a lot of my time has been spent working with the interfaith movement, trying to help develop closer ties of love and fellowship amongst people of all religions. This project has been of great concern to me, and filled with great rewards. I have learned a tremendous amount and shared much with others.
One particular sharing that I found very rewarding came when a few of us were asked to speak to an audience about a time when we "saw the light of truth" in another faith path. One renowned individual came up to me, in confidence, and said that he didn't know what to say. "I have only seen the light of truth in Jesus." My reply came unbidden from my mouth: "Of course. And when you see the light of Jesus in another path, then you know it is the light of truth."
Since that moment, that thought has bounced around in my brain quite a bit. What did I mean by that? How does that apply to the followers of other faith paths?
For me, it reminded me of a moment when Marielle and I were in a church. This was quite some time ago, at a point in her life when she had not been able to set foot in a church for years without feelings of anger, or perhaps sadness. I am not sure which. We had spoken a lot about the need for interfaith fellowship, and to not judge a Founder of a faith based on the actions of Their followers. We looked in the Baha'i Writings, spoke of our own feelings, our hopes and our desires. In the end, she stepped into that church with me, to attend an interfaith prayer gathering. We went into the main sanctuary, as it was my habit to always say a prayer at the altar before anything else, and she was waiting by the door as I said my prayer. When I was done, I came back to her, and she was staring at the crucifix above the altar with tears streaming from her eyes. "I just realized," she said, "that is Baha'u'llah up there on the cross."
Years later, when I first began tutoring Ruhi Book 1, Reflections on the Life of the Spirit, many of the participants were not from a Baha'i background. I asked them to make the book their own: if it says "Baha'u'llah says", read it as "Jesus teaches" or "Buddha teaches". If it says "as a Baha'i would you..." read it "as a spiritual human being would you..."
The effect was incredible. Time and again people came away realizing that all the Messengers of God are the same. Although they may differ based on location and time, Their innermost essence, the pith of Their teachings, is identical.
And today, it has come to me to mean that I should hold sacred what you hold to be sacred for the singular reason that it is sacred to you.
I once heard a man speak on interfaith work, and was touched by his actions before he spoke. He approached the microphone, paused, looked puzzled, and then removed his shoes. He said, "When you approach an interfaith dialogue, you are walking on sacred ground."
Just the other day, Marielle and I were invited to represent the Baha'i community at the ordination of the new Archbishop of St Boniface. At the very end, he said, off the cuff, that he welcomed Christians from all paths and was glad they were there for this beautiful celebration. I felt the Jewish representatives near me bristle, and I just smiled. He had obviously not had a lot of experience in interfaith lingo, but his intention was good.
Immediately afterwards, during the recessional, Archbishop Weisgerber of Winnipeg, a man I am proud to call a dear friend, stopped in the middle of the aisle, which is just not done, and turned to me. He shook my hand, and with a very loving smile said, "We also welcome people of other paths."
He did not need to do that, as he would have known that I would respect and understand his colleague's intention, but he was concerned enough about the hearts of all who were near. This simple action touched me more than I can express.
And this is the thought I want to leave you with: try to regard as sacred that which someone else holds sacred, for the simple reason that it is sacred to them.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Fear and security
Many of the same questions come up over and over again. Two that seem to be related are about fear and security. The questions are usually variations of "What positive value is missing when there is fear present? Is it just courage?" and "How does your work relate to security? Isn't security a positive value?"
To help explore these questions, I decided to look in the dictionary first, as I was actually unsure about how to define these terms.
"Fear" is often defined as a mild discomfort, or a feeling of disquiet. This surprised me, as I learned that I had confused it with "terror", a paralyzing fear. On a scale of distressing emotions, fear is somewhere around a 3, while terror would be around a 10. Panic, for what it is worth, would be a 6, or so. This is not, obviously, linguistically accurate, but just my own way of understanding the definitions I read.
"Security" is freedom from danger. One dictionary also cites it as being "foolishly" free from this concern.
After looking at the definitions of these two words, I did a quick check in various Sacred Texts for quotes regarding them, and discovered the following:
Variations of these quotes appear in nearly every body of Sacred literature.
Why? Why would the fear of God be the beginning of wisdom? And why would this fear of God lead us to fear nothing else?
Obviously this is not referring to the mind-numbing, body-paralyzing terror we normally associate with the word "fear", but is more likely referring to the more-accurate definition of "reverential awe".
This insight was further reinforced by a photograph from the Hubble Space Telescope: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/html/heic0814a.html
The photograph there is an image of a galaxy cluster. The individual dots are full galaxies, not just individual stars.
So what does this have to do with the above quotes and questions?
Think about it: try to picture yourself sitting at your computer. You can picture your body, and actually imagine yourself as a presence. Now try for an aerial view, seeing yourself from above in the city in which you live. This is a little more difficult. You might be a small dot within the context of the entire city.
Now try to picture yourself from above your entire country. Could you even begin to see the dot that might be you? Can you imagine viewing yourself in terms of the entire planet? Solar system? Galaxy?
We are absurdly small, virtually as nothing. And this makes me a little uncomfortable. How will this little bit of writing, this meager thought, help change the world? And what difference will it make in terms of the universe itself? I am forced to recognize that the answer must be that it will very little difference.
So let's look at time, instead, then. What will you do today that will make a difference in a week? What are you doing with your life that will effect the planet in a year's time? Or be celebrated in a century, much a less a millennium?
These are the questions that, I think, begin to help lead us towards wisdom. After all, when we consider that all those galaxies are but a pinpoint in relation to God, or that a thousand millennia are but a moment of God's time, then we begin to realize how insignificant we are in terms of all of existence.
But now let's pause for a moment: Baha'u'llah says, "Noble have I created thee..." He does not say that we are created as nothing, but that we are noble, worthy creations of our Creator. We have something worthy to contribute.
And to best find out what it is, we need to look at the Words of our Creator.
When I think about how big God is, and how incredibly small I am, I am moved to pay more attention to what is said in Sacred Texts. After all, this is where God has "spoken" to humanity and helped show us how this universe works. If He says to pray every day, I am more inclined to do it when I realize the immensity of our Creator.
But what are the positive values missing when there is fear present? Well, none. Fear is a healthy thing, when we recall the true definition.
And when our fear is directed toward God, then we better realize how little anything else actually matters, in the long run. It is through this realization that we will not fear anything else.
I could go on quite a bit more, but this is a starting point. I would love to hear your thoughts on these few simple ideas.
To help explore these questions, I decided to look in the dictionary first, as I was actually unsure about how to define these terms.
"Fear" is often defined as a mild discomfort, or a feeling of disquiet. This surprised me, as I learned that I had confused it with "terror", a paralyzing fear. On a scale of distressing emotions, fear is somewhere around a 3, while terror would be around a 10. Panic, for what it is worth, would be a 6, or so. This is not, obviously, linguistically accurate, but just my own way of understanding the definitions I read.
"Security" is freedom from danger. One dictionary also cites it as being "foolishly" free from this concern.
After looking at the definitions of these two words, I did a quick check in various Sacred Texts for quotes regarding them, and discovered the following:
- The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom.
- He who fears God fears nothing else. He who does not fear God fears all else.
Variations of these quotes appear in nearly every body of Sacred literature.
Why? Why would the fear of God be the beginning of wisdom? And why would this fear of God lead us to fear nothing else?
Obviously this is not referring to the mind-numbing, body-paralyzing terror we normally associate with the word "fear", but is more likely referring to the more-accurate definition of "reverential awe".
This insight was further reinforced by a photograph from the Hubble Space Telescope: http://www.spacetelescope.org/images/html/heic0814a.html
The photograph there is an image of a galaxy cluster. The individual dots are full galaxies, not just individual stars.
So what does this have to do with the above quotes and questions?
Think about it: try to picture yourself sitting at your computer. You can picture your body, and actually imagine yourself as a presence. Now try for an aerial view, seeing yourself from above in the city in which you live. This is a little more difficult. You might be a small dot within the context of the entire city.
Now try to picture yourself from above your entire country. Could you even begin to see the dot that might be you? Can you imagine viewing yourself in terms of the entire planet? Solar system? Galaxy?
We are absurdly small, virtually as nothing. And this makes me a little uncomfortable. How will this little bit of writing, this meager thought, help change the world? And what difference will it make in terms of the universe itself? I am forced to recognize that the answer must be that it will very little difference.
So let's look at time, instead, then. What will you do today that will make a difference in a week? What are you doing with your life that will effect the planet in a year's time? Or be celebrated in a century, much a less a millennium?
These are the questions that, I think, begin to help lead us towards wisdom. After all, when we consider that all those galaxies are but a pinpoint in relation to God, or that a thousand millennia are but a moment of God's time, then we begin to realize how insignificant we are in terms of all of existence.
But now let's pause for a moment: Baha'u'llah says, "Noble have I created thee..." He does not say that we are created as nothing, but that we are noble, worthy creations of our Creator. We have something worthy to contribute.
And to best find out what it is, we need to look at the Words of our Creator.
When I think about how big God is, and how incredibly small I am, I am moved to pay more attention to what is said in Sacred Texts. After all, this is where God has "spoken" to humanity and helped show us how this universe works. If He says to pray every day, I am more inclined to do it when I realize the immensity of our Creator.
But what are the positive values missing when there is fear present? Well, none. Fear is a healthy thing, when we recall the true definition.
And when our fear is directed toward God, then we better realize how little anything else actually matters, in the long run. It is through this realization that we will not fear anything else.
I could go on quite a bit more, but this is a starting point. I would love to hear your thoughts on these few simple ideas.
Health and healing, part 2
There has been a lot of controversy in the news these days about the H1N1 virus, commonly referred to as the Swine Flu.
First has been the recurring controversy about "fear mongering". I won't go into that controversy here, but rather will just ackowledge it and add those two lines of wisdom found in all the Sacred Scriptures in the world:
For now, the controversy I wish to examine is the recognition that this virus, H1N1 (remember, I started talking about that), seems to spread more readily amongst Aborignal Canadians than in most other populations in Canada. Also, it seems to spread more quickly on the reserves than in the cities.
Why would this be?
Although a few have argued that this is due to genetics, this seems unlikely. Others have cited the living conditions on the reserves, which may be more likely. The living conditions in cities, however, seem more likely to conduce to the spread of a virus like the flu, so I am wondering if there is another factor, equally appalling as the endemic poverty on the reserves, but a bit more subtle.
In the Baha'i Writings, there is an interesting quote found in the statement "One Common Faith". They speak of "the negation of the ood that evil represents", pointing out that what is commonly thought of as "evil" is in actuality an absence of that which is good. It has no tangible existence, but is "severely crippling in its effect". This, in case you have missed the connection, is the basis of posi-genesis.
But to give you the full quote, and how it applies here: "...the negation of the good that evil represents, as with darkness, ignorance or disease, is serverely crippling in its effect." Please note the inclusion of "disease".
The parallel is that the lefthand column is the absence, and the righthand column is the existence:
In a Tablet to a physician, Baha'u'llah wrote, "Do not neglect medical treatment when it is necessary, but leave it off when health has been restored. Treat disease through diet, by preference, refraining from the use of drugs; and if you find what is required in a single herb, do not resort to a compound medicament. ... Abstain from drugs when the health is good, but administer them when necessary."
According to 'Abdu'l-Baha, the Bab said that, "the people of Baha must develop the science of medicine to such a high degree that they will heal illnesses by means of foods."
So what does this have to do with H1N1?
I am wondering if anyone has looked at the effect that diet has on the body's tendency to fall prey to severe illnesses? The modern diet on many reserves, in many poverty stricken areas in the world, and amongst the lower income people in "developed" countries, is sadly deficient.
We need only look at the various farming subsidies that enable, for example, corn-based products, such as chips and other forms of junk food, to be cheaper than simple vegetables to see a reason for why people's diet may not be providing as much nutrition for health as is needed.
I do not have an answer to this dilemma, nor am I claiming that this is the singular reason, but it bears investigating, in my own estimation.
Perhaps if we could learn to build health, than the issue of disease would not be as much of a concern as it currently is.
First has been the recurring controversy about "fear mongering". I won't go into that controversy here, but rather will just ackowledge it and add those two lines of wisdom found in all the Sacred Scriptures in the world:
- "The fear of God is the beginning of wisdom."
- "He who fears God fears nothing else, and he who does not fear God fears all else."
For now, the controversy I wish to examine is the recognition that this virus, H1N1 (remember, I started talking about that), seems to spread more readily amongst Aborignal Canadians than in most other populations in Canada. Also, it seems to spread more quickly on the reserves than in the cities.
Why would this be?
Although a few have argued that this is due to genetics, this seems unlikely. Others have cited the living conditions on the reserves, which may be more likely. The living conditions in cities, however, seem more likely to conduce to the spread of a virus like the flu, so I am wondering if there is another factor, equally appalling as the endemic poverty on the reserves, but a bit more subtle.
In the Baha'i Writings, there is an interesting quote found in the statement "One Common Faith". They speak of "the negation of the ood that evil represents", pointing out that what is commonly thought of as "evil" is in actuality an absence of that which is good. It has no tangible existence, but is "severely crippling in its effect". This, in case you have missed the connection, is the basis of posi-genesis.
But to give you the full quote, and how it applies here: "...the negation of the good that evil represents, as with darkness, ignorance or disease, is serverely crippling in its effect." Please note the inclusion of "disease".
The parallel is that the lefthand column is the absence, and the righthand column is the existence:
- evil --> good
- darkness --> light
- ignorance --> knowledge
- disease --> health
In a Tablet to a physician, Baha'u'llah wrote, "Do not neglect medical treatment when it is necessary, but leave it off when health has been restored. Treat disease through diet, by preference, refraining from the use of drugs; and if you find what is required in a single herb, do not resort to a compound medicament. ... Abstain from drugs when the health is good, but administer them when necessary."
According to 'Abdu'l-Baha, the Bab said that, "the people of Baha must develop the science of medicine to such a high degree that they will heal illnesses by means of foods."
So what does this have to do with H1N1?
I am wondering if anyone has looked at the effect that diet has on the body's tendency to fall prey to severe illnesses? The modern diet on many reserves, in many poverty stricken areas in the world, and amongst the lower income people in "developed" countries, is sadly deficient.
We need only look at the various farming subsidies that enable, for example, corn-based products, such as chips and other forms of junk food, to be cheaper than simple vegetables to see a reason for why people's diet may not be providing as much nutrition for health as is needed.
I do not have an answer to this dilemma, nor am I claiming that this is the singular reason, but it bears investigating, in my own estimation.
Perhaps if we could learn to build health, than the issue of disease would not be as much of a concern as it currently is.
Saturday, May 16, 2009
A thought of the next world
It is through our explanations of things to children that we really begin to understand those things ourselves.
The other day Shoghi asked me a question about death. We've been reading a lot of books that have people dying in them. I'm not sure why, but it seems to be coming up a lot lately.
In one story, we read about Abdu'l-Baha and a woman named Na'um. She was very old and extremely poor. She would come see Abdu'l-Baha most every day, and he would give her a bit of money, even though he did not have a lot of money himself. One day she didn't show up, and someone came running to him and said, "Master, Master, Na'um is sick. She has the measles and nobody will go near her." 'Abdu'l-Baha hired someone to watch over her. He rented a room for her, paid for her medicine and even sent her his own bedding. When she passed away, he paid for her funeral.
When Shoghi asked me about this, I explained the following:
When a friend is getting ready to move, we can help them in many ways. We can help them sort through their belongings and throw away what is not necesary. Then we can help them pack up what they want in boxes. We could help them load the truck, or even drive the truck for them. At their new home, we can help unload, or even unpack, the boxes.
This is what Abdu'l-Baha was doing for her. She was getting ready to move to heaven and he was helping her sort through her stuff, and get ready to move. He was helping her recognize the virtues that were truly important in life, and pack them away in her heart for the next world.
He did this by showing so much love and compassion to her. He made sure that she was comfortable and happy. He did all that he could for her, so that her last days would be good.
And this is how we must be. We must help others, and make sure that they comfortable and happy.
It is through this story, and talking about it with Marielle, that we have come to realize that the accumulation of virtues, as good and wonderful as this is, is not all. They are given to us to develop so that we can better know our Creator. This is the goal. When we move to the next world, our aim is the same: to know and worship God.
These virtues help us do this.
The other day Shoghi asked me a question about death. We've been reading a lot of books that have people dying in them. I'm not sure why, but it seems to be coming up a lot lately.
In one story, we read about Abdu'l-Baha and a woman named Na'um. She was very old and extremely poor. She would come see Abdu'l-Baha most every day, and he would give her a bit of money, even though he did not have a lot of money himself. One day she didn't show up, and someone came running to him and said, "Master, Master, Na'um is sick. She has the measles and nobody will go near her." 'Abdu'l-Baha hired someone to watch over her. He rented a room for her, paid for her medicine and even sent her his own bedding. When she passed away, he paid for her funeral.
When Shoghi asked me about this, I explained the following:
When a friend is getting ready to move, we can help them in many ways. We can help them sort through their belongings and throw away what is not necesary. Then we can help them pack up what they want in boxes. We could help them load the truck, or even drive the truck for them. At their new home, we can help unload, or even unpack, the boxes.
This is what Abdu'l-Baha was doing for her. She was getting ready to move to heaven and he was helping her sort through her stuff, and get ready to move. He was helping her recognize the virtues that were truly important in life, and pack them away in her heart for the next world.
He did this by showing so much love and compassion to her. He made sure that she was comfortable and happy. He did all that he could for her, so that her last days would be good.
And this is how we must be. We must help others, and make sure that they comfortable and happy.
It is through this story, and talking about it with Marielle, that we have come to realize that the accumulation of virtues, as good and wonderful as this is, is not all. They are given to us to develop so that we can better know our Creator. This is the goal. When we move to the next world, our aim is the same: to know and worship God.
These virtues help us do this.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Abreu and Purposefulness
I am often asked, these days, to summarize the perspective I am trying to offer with "posi-genesis". Many people understand the basic concept, but do not see how to apply it. The perspective, of course, is to recognize that you cannot eliminate negatives: you can only add positives. For example, if you walk into a dark room and want to read a book, you have to add light; you cannot remove the darkness.
Light is a positive quality that exists. Darkness has no existence. It is the absence of light.
By the same token, if you are cold, you have to warm up. Cold does not exist. You cannot remove the cold. Of course, a lack of heat has an effect. You can suffer frostbite or even die from a lack of heat.
This basic principal can also be applied to great effect with social issues. If we are looking at the issue of poverty, we need to first understand that poverty is a "lack of wealth". Once we see this, then we can address issues of distribution or rights of labour, to name but two, and see the solutions more readily.
With this as a basic summary, and more written below, I would like to off an example that has recently come to my attention, that of Abreau and Il Sistema in Venezuela. I have spent years trying to understand why various programs are successful, and have consistently found that it is because they identify a spiritual principal, or virtue, and try to develop it.
In the case of Abreu, it is "purposefulness"
Abreu is a musician who developed a program for school children in Venezuela. It overcomes the traditional boundaries in that country based upon skin colour and financial standing. For a marvelous interview, please click on the following:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jose_abreu_on_kids_transformed_by_music.html
After being captivated by a performance of the Youth Orchestra, conducted by his protege, Dudamel, (http://www.ted.com/talks/astonishing_performance_by_a_venezuelan_youth_orchestra_1.html),
who is also music director for the LA Philharmonic, I was moved to check out this talk by Abreu.
I naturally led to the question "Why is it so successful?" There are, of course, many reasons, but one that stands out is "Purposefulness". By giving the children a marvelous prupose in their lives, and the support to achieve that purpose, he has transformed their lives, as well as producing what is being considered one of the top five orchestras in the world. And they're a high school orchestra!
Light is a positive quality that exists. Darkness has no existence. It is the absence of light.
By the same token, if you are cold, you have to warm up. Cold does not exist. You cannot remove the cold. Of course, a lack of heat has an effect. You can suffer frostbite or even die from a lack of heat.
This basic principal can also be applied to great effect with social issues. If we are looking at the issue of poverty, we need to first understand that poverty is a "lack of wealth". Once we see this, then we can address issues of distribution or rights of labour, to name but two, and see the solutions more readily.
With this as a basic summary, and more written below, I would like to off an example that has recently come to my attention, that of Abreau and Il Sistema in Venezuela. I have spent years trying to understand why various programs are successful, and have consistently found that it is because they identify a spiritual principal, or virtue, and try to develop it.
In the case of Abreu, it is "purposefulness"
Abreu is a musician who developed a program for school children in Venezuela. It overcomes the traditional boundaries in that country based upon skin colour and financial standing. For a marvelous interview, please click on the following:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/jose_abreu_on_kids_transformed_by_music.html
After being captivated by a performance of the Youth Orchestra, conducted by his protege, Dudamel, (http://www.ted.com/talks/astonishing_performance_by_a_venezuelan_youth_orchestra_1.html),
who is also music director for the LA Philharmonic, I was moved to check out this talk by Abreu.
I naturally led to the question "Why is it so successful?" There are, of course, many reasons, but one that stands out is "Purposefulness". By giving the children a marvelous prupose in their lives, and the support to achieve that purpose, he has transformed their lives, as well as producing what is being considered one of the top five orchestras in the world. And they're a high school orchestra!
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