"Ever-advancing civilization" aka . . .

In a comment to an earlier post, RVCBard wrote:

"This is closely in line with what Judaism calls tikkun olam - repair of the world (or - perhaps more accurately - perfection of the world).

That reminded me of Sen's post about the betterment of the world. He wrote:

to carry forward an ever-advancing civilization” in the original is islah-e ‘aalam. Elsewhere the Guardian translates the same phrase as “the reformation of this age”, “rehabilitate the fortunes of mankind,” the “betterment of the world” and “to reconstruct the world.

Trying not to deliver a message

I've seen some artists working very hard to avoid saying anything with their works. I might be starting to understand that better. For example, I would like people to learn to see the magic all around us, beyond the impoverished routine meanings of daily life. I can see how it might seem self-defeating to try to tell people specifically what they will see. I face a similar challenge with the writings of Baha'u'llah. For most of my life I've avoided trying to tell people what they mean to me, because I don't want them to be limited by my imperfect or even deformed understanding. If I tell them what I see, they might not look any farther, and simply reproduce my mistakes.

In my experience and observation, trying to avoid saying anything might only result in hiding from ourselves what we are saying to people. Often when I've seen people saying that they don't try to control or change people, it seemed to me that they were fooling themselves, which can have even worse results than consciously seeking to change other people's behavior and ideas. It certainly is harder for me to deal with, when I'm the person whose ideas and behavior someone is trying to change. If the person is doing it frankly, consciously and deliberately, then we can discuss and resolve any problems that might come up. Also, it's very confusing and frustrating for me when someone is trying to change me, and denying it even to herself.

If we try to avoid saying anything in our performances, rather than giving them the freedom we want to give them, to discover their own magic, we might make it even harder for them to escape from the confines of our own thoughts and feelings.

What else can we do? Maybe communicate more, rather than less. Maybe tell people what we see, and invite them to look for something else. Maybe give them examples of how to do that, and invite them to look for better ways. Maybe learn to do it better ourselves. How do we see possibilities in other people's works that they might not see themselves? How can we do it better? It seems to me that if I want to see something in a person's work besides what she sees, it would help me to know what she sees. Otherwise, how would I know if I'm seeing something that she didn't see?

Here's another thought: Even if we aren't fooling ourselves, in spite of our denials, people might be too busy trying to guess what we mean, what we're trying to say, to look beyond it. If we tell them our own thoughts and feelings right from the start, and invite them frankly to look beyond that, we can give them a head start.

I'll be thinking about that.

RVCBard and me

I just realized that what RVCBard is trying to do is all about deeds, not words.

In a comment to the previous post, RVCBard asked some questions that interest me very much.

One question was:

"What does support and encouragement look like for you?"

In response to my statement that I can easily imagine people responding to what God says to hearts that are turned to Him, in a Christian context, not so easily in other contexts, she wrote:

"Could you be more specific?"

I'll try to give examples of what support looks like to me, but it's easier for me to say what it feels like. It feels like stopping in Rivendell on the way to Mordor, and people listening eagerly to my story, and caring about what has happened to me and what's ahead of me, and giving me some information and supplies that I might need. It feels like someone walking beside me on the trail, and sharing hardships, adventures and good times along the way.

Examples of what it looks like:
- Someone to talk to about where I've been and where I'm going, and showing friendly interest and asking friendly questions.
- Someone who is trying to do something like what I'm trying to do, and talking to me about it.
- Someone giving me information and ideas that I can really use.
- Someone doing something that I might have wanted to do if I had thought of it and could have done it.

More concretely, some examples I've seen were some books and materials that someone gave us sometimes in Richmond that helped us with Patty's Kindergarten class and helped me with what I was trying to do with children in our neighborhood.

Another example was when I was learning to work and walk with marginalized people in my community, and I noticed other people doing that too, and talking to me about it.

Another example is in help forums when people give you answers you can actually use, without making you feel stupid, and without scolding you for not knowing all the information they'll need in advance.

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I can easily imagine a Christian context for responding to what God says to hearts that are turned to Him, because I can relate it to Christian concepts of salvation and giving your life to Christ, and I've known Christians who seem to me to be turned to God, and moved to loving action by His words. I can easily imagine in what terms a Christian might describe the relationship with God that I'm thinking of. I don't have any ideas about how other people might describe it. I understand that "Islam" means submission to God, that could be a way of describing the relationship I'm talking about. I can imagine people being moved to loving action by words from the Koran or from the Hebrew scriptures or from any other scriptures, but I don't have any experience with that. I have some experience with that from the Hebrew scriptures, but only in a Christian context. I can easily imagine others besides Christians being moved the same way, but I don't imagine they would describe their feelings in the same terms, and I have no personal experience with any other conceptual framework for those scriptures.

For example, Baha'u'llah writes with intense feeling about Zion and Carmel, but I have no idea what those feelings are all about. I went through the Hebrew scriptures looking for something that would help me understand. I got some vague ideas about precious memories of peace, justice, prosperity and beauty, but I have no idea if I came anywhere close to what Baha'u'llah is talking about.

Some more thoughts about the people of Baha

Before I continue studying words of Baha'u'llah addressed to the people of Baha, I want to look some more at some possible implications of "people of Baha."

I hesitate to think of "the people of Baha" as specific people who can be identified, even by each other, and I hesitate to think of myself as one of them. Even if I did so, I would want to avoid depreciating other people's relationships with Baha'u'llah. At the same time, I have an idea that it might be good for the people of Baha to encourage and support each other in promoting the framework for action, and that it might help to set that in the context of what Baha'u'llah says to them about their responsibilities and possibilities.

For now I'll just think of the feelings I have when I see "O people of Baha," and imagine some other people might feel the same way, and that we might encourage and support each other somehow in learning to follow Baha'u'llah.

I don't want this to be for Baha'is only. In my understanding this is really about our hearts being turned to God. I would like to see people of all religions and ideologies, including nontheistic ones, encouraging and supporting each other in responding to what God says to hearts that are turned to Him. I can easily imagine what that might mean in a Christian context, not so easily in other contexts. I'm wondering how we might talk to each other about our feelings, ideas, aspirations and experiences in responding to God's call.

I might try to spend some time with some Christians, Buddhists, pagans and other people, looking for signs of hearts turned to God and stirred to action by His words, trying to learn from them and learn to encourage and support them.

People of Baha, the framework, and better conduct

This blog is supposed to be about practicing and promoting better conduct on the Internet, and responding to harmful conduct and to questions it raises in people's minds. I decided to use it for a series of posts about the people of Baha and the framework for action. I don't have any ideas for now about how that might fit into the description.

People of Baha

I'm a little confused about what I want to do with a series of posts about the people of Baha and the framework for action.

I would would like to see a growing and spreading love for the framework, and for everything the House of Justice is promoting. Currently my strategy for promoting something is to deepen my friendships with people, develop more friendships, and try to improve my practice of what I want to promote. In the case of the framework for action, an idea came to me to write about the framework in the context of what Baha'u'llah says to the people of Baha. I'm not sure why. It might do something to help the people of Baha promote the framework.

I have an idea that one question that needs to be addressed is the diversity among Baha'is in their relationships with Baha'u'llah. In particular it looks to me like many or even most Baha'is think very little in terms of following Baha'u'llah and serving His purposes. I have a habit of imagining that "Baha'i" means "follower of Baha'u'llah," someone who is devoted to serving His purposes, in accordance with His prescriptions. That has repeatly led me to dead ends, communication gaps, and sometimes distrust and estrangement.

I'm trying to learn to be aware of possible differences in the relationships of Baha'is with Baha'u'llah, without depreciating other people's relationships with Him.

When I think of the words "O people of Baha," or "O ye moth-like lovers of His light," a loving, yearning feeling wells up inside me, with a wish to respond in action. I'm imagining some other people feeling the same way sometimes, and that it might be good for us to study the framework for action in the light of Baha'u'llah's words addressed to the people of Baha. I would like to learn to do that without being confused and distracted by the lack of personal interest in Baha'u'llah that I see among Baha'is, and without depreciating their relationships with Him. Maybe some others who feel the way I do towards Baha'u'llah have had the same problem. If so, it might help to discuss it.

Now I'm not sure what else to say about it. I've learned some ways to manage my temptations to depreciate people's interests and ideas. Maybe I just need to consider how to apply those specifically to this case.

One thought that comes to me now is, if some Baha'is are not moved the way I am by personal feelings towards Baha'u'llah, it might help me to learn more about what does move them to want to serve His purposes. I already see that people can be moved to serve His purposes without ever having heard of Him. One way to stop depreciating something is to learn to appreciate it. Maybe I can try to learn more about what moves other people, and learn to appreciate it more.

Relationships with Baha'u'llah

Now I'll discuss my understanding and practice of turning to Baha'u'llah, and some different kinds of possible relationships with Baha'u'llah.

"Turning to Baha'u'llah" might mean different things to different people. First I want to discuss what God means by it. In saying that I'm not imagining that I know what God means by it. I'm imagining that what Baha'u'llah says about the supreme importance of turning to Him has to do with whatever God means by that, and not with what anyone else might mean by it.

I'm not imagining that there's any way to know who has turned to God and who hasn't, including me. I'm not even sure that it's as simple as some people being turned to Him and others not. Maybe I'm turned to Him sometimes and sometimes not. Maybe part of me is turned to Him and part of me is not. Even though He invites us to turn to Him, I'm not sure it's something we can do deliberately, the way we can turn our bodies. Certainly we can turn our thoughts to the Kingdom as I've seen Abdu'l-Baha inviting us to do, and our efforts to turn to Him might be an indispensable part of turning to Him.

Thinking in Biblical terms of salvation and grace, I'm imagining that turning to God is not entirely our own doing. It's something that's given to us. If it comes through His grace, then maybe we can help each other by learning to help surround each other with His grace.

I've been thinking recently about a possible difference I see between my relationship with Baha'u'llah, and the relationship of some other people with him who call themselves Baha'is. I subordinate my interests and ideas to His, and it looks to me like they subordinate His interests and ideas to theirs, or possibly equate His with theirs. That came into focus for me while I was thinking about what it means to turn to Him, but I'm not sure how closely the two are related. Even if I'm mistaken about the people I have in mind, there might be people who are interested in Baha'u'llah, who love some of His writings and some of what they see Him promoting, and who even look up to Him, without subordinating their interests and ideas to His.

If the people I have in mind are subordinating Baha'u'llah's interests and ideas to theirs, or equating His with theirs, that would do a lot to help explain some things in their attitudes and behavior that have sometimes puzzled me and troubled me. Considering that possibility might help improve my relationships with them.

Apart from that, it's easier for me understand the possibilities in my relationships with people who don't call themselves Baha'is but who approve of some of Baha'u'llah's writings and purposes, and would like to help practice and promote them.

The people of Baha and the framework for action

I need to take a break from Internet discussions, but I'm planning to continue reading some blogs. One is a blog that I had chosen for systematic and sustained efforts to practice encouragement and support. Another one is one that I just discovered, that I also want to continue encouraging. There are a few others that I want to follow.

I might also take a few more steps in the series of articles I wanted to post about the people of Baha and the framework for action. I still don't have a clear idea of what to do. Maybe I'll write about some of my ideas and experiences as I try to deepen my own understanding, and improve my own practice, in using the framework for action to serve Baha'u'llah's purposes.

I'll try describing where I am now in my understanding and practice.

One way I've thought of the framework for action is that it provides a continually improving environment for people who are interested, to improve their capacity to serve Baha'u'llah's purposes. I might discuss how the various components contribute to that, and how they work together. I might discuss different kinds of relationships people might have with Baha'u'llah, and how that might affect what they can do with the framework for action.

For most of my life a recurring question for me has been what I might do to make my life more pleasing to God. I was eager to go through the Ruhi courses because I saw in them a way to systematically improve my knowledge, understanding and capacity. Then I wanted to help individuals who were interested in the courses but who weren't ready to participate in organized classes with other people. I wanted to go through tutor training to improve my work with individuals. After I went through some of the books I realized the importance of the practices and that I hadn't done much with them. I went back and tried to do them, and I did some research to learn how to help other people do them. I also decided that one way to improve my capacity to serve intensive growth programs would be to develop a passion for teaching, and more specifically to learn to invite people to activities.

Before I moved to China, I was going to a friend's house for prayers once a week, and we were working through Ruhi Book 1 together and discussing plans for some work we wanted to do with some children and junior youth. I tried to find some intensive growth programs somewhere that I could participate in, so I could bring the spirit and some ideas about it back into my community. I was trying to get together with some people who had been through the tutor training but who were having trouble doing anything with it, so we could help each other to take some beginning steps. I was having a lot of trouble getting started.

I was also trying to help develop ways for people who weren't participating in institute courses to get part of the training some other way if they were interested, through mentoring for example.

When our community started practicing for intensive teaching campaigns, I didn't participate in the initial teaching, but I started visiting one of the homes.

Besides practicing and promoting all the components of the framework for action, at the same time I was promoting some ideas and pursuing some initiatives of my own, and practicing and promoting encouragement and support of others doing the same, regardless of how anyone thought they fit into community goals and plans. I was also trying to prevent and counteract people being stigmatized for not participating in institute courses, or in any other part of community goals and plans. In my understanding it is contrary to Baha'u'llah's purposes and to the interests of the House of Justice to stigmatize people for not participating in community goals and plans, or to depreciate initiatives outside of them.

My own inititatives revolved around neighborhood community service and development, working with children and junior youth, and walking and working with people in the margins of the Baha'i community, online and offline.

It would please me very much to see more and more people voluntarily starting their own core activities, going through the sequence of institute courses including the practices, fully participating in reflection meetings, inviting non-members into the core activities, preparing to participate in intensive teaching campaigns, promoting their own ideas and pursuing their own initiatives, and learning to encourage and support each other in all that, in ways that really help and without stigmazing anyone who isn't interested.

It would please me very much to see individuals and institutions learning to offer the kind of encouragement and support to people that really helps, in the challenges they're facing and in what they're trying to do with their lives, regardless of how it fits into community goals and plans.

Responding to acrimonious debates

As I see it, what divides people in acrimonious debates is not what they're debating about. What divides them is their divisiveness. In that case it might be worse than futile to try to resolve the conflicts by reasoning with the people involved. Appealing to them to change their attitudes and behavior towards each other might be just as futile.

One way I see to try to improve the situation is by developing friendships with individuals, and participating in any beneficial discussions that might come up.

Baha'i Epistolary

I just discovered Baha'i Epistolary.

Not that I've never heard of it before. I have, but I've just now discovered it.

I see in it a lot of the better conduct that I would like to promote. More than that, I see in it some of the better conduct that I would like to learn myself.

Reading people's blogs

Some time ago I said I would like to help organize the Internet to facilitate networking among people who are learning to help spread peace, justice, beauty and kindness. Now I'm looking into the other end of the telescope. I want to look for people who are learning to help spread peace, justice, beauty and kindness, to learn from them, to learn to offer encouragement and support that really helps, and to help them find and use support networks.

What good we might do on the Internet

I want to do all the good I can do, and be the best person I can be.
I want everything Baha'u'llah wants for me.
That might include what good I can do on the Internet.
I'd like to be part of some networks of people who are trying to do all the good they can do, and be the best people they can be, encouraging and supporting each other, and learning from each other.
I'd like to be part of some support networks of people who are following Baha'u'llah.
I'd like to help develop those networks.
I'd like to learn what good we can do, individually and together, on the Internet.
I'd like to practice and promote reading people's blogs, learning from them, and learning to offer encouragement and support that really helps.

What can I do next, to make my life more pleasing to God?
Maybe study the dynamics, looking for ideas for developing and applying my capacities.

What can I do next, to do make better use of the Internet?
Maybe study BIA documents some more, looking for ideas.
Maybe browse through some blogs, looking for ideas.

Subdue the citadels

I want to write a series of posts about what Baha'u'llah says to the people of Baha, and a series about the framework for action, which I imagine will be progressively intertwined. This is about what Baha'u'llah says to the people of Baha.

"Say: We have ordained that our Cause be taught through the power of utterance. Beware lest ye dispute idly with anyone. Whoso ariseth wholly for the sake of his Lord to teach His Cause, the Holy Spirit shall strengthen him and inspire him with that which will illumine the heart of the world, how much more the hearts of those who seek Him. O people of Baha! Subdue the citadels of men's hearts with the swords of wisdom and of utterance. They that dispute, as prompted by their desires, are indeed wrapped in a palpable veil. Say: The sword of wisdom is hotter than summer heat, and sharper than blades of steel, if ye do but understand. Draw it forth in My name and through the power of My might, and conquer then with it the cities of the hearts of them that have secluded themselves in the stronghold of their corrupt desires. Thus biddeth you the Pen of the All-Glorious, whilst seated beneath the swords of the wayward."

(Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 77)

Some thoughts about putting this into practice:

1. Imagine people's hearts imprisoned in citadels guarded by their corrupt desires. Think of wisdom and utterance as swords to use against those corrupt desires.

2. Think of temptations to dispute with people as veils that someone tries to wrap around you, to blind you.

3. Learn more about what God means by "hearts," "wisdom," "utterance," "dispute" and "desires," in this context.

Framework for action: A panorama, Ridvan 2008

This is a panorama of a lake near Kinderhook, Michigan, where my sister and I went swimming sometimes when we went with our family to visit our great grandmother, who had a cottage on Dragon Lake. We didn't swim in Dragon Lake because of the snakes.

I'm thinking of using Ridvan letters from the Universal House of Justice to discuss the framework for action, and its history.

Ridvan 2008

The letter begins with a panorama:

* study of the creative word * increasing capacity for service * lives of devotion * visits * spiritual education of children * empowerment of junior youth * betterment of the world *

* serious, uplifting environment * action, reflection, consultation * worshiping, praying, awakening spiritual susceptibilities, shaping our lives, together * discussing, deepening, sharing, welcoming * children's classes * junior youth programs * expanding human resources *

To see the panorama I wanted to paint, imagine the first series sitting on top of the second one, with "study of the creative word" on top of "serious, uplifting environment," "increasing capacity for service" on top of "action, reflection, consultation," etc. Imagine not only members of the Baha'i Faith, but a growing number of other people also, who may or may not become members.

Imagine that the fruits of any activity depend partly on the spirit in which it is done. That would apply to our activities in the framework for action. The spirit might include what we're aiming for, our understanding of what is happening and where we're going, our attitudes and ways of doing things, and the spiritual qualities we're practicing. The 2008 Ridvan letter from the House of Justice contains some ideas about the spirit in which we might conduct activities in the framework for action.

Some examples of aims:
- Advancement in the process of entry by troops.
- Conditions conducive to the expression of the spiritual energies of a growing number of believers in pursuit of a common goal.
- An environment in which individual effort and collective action can complement each other in order to achieve progress.
- Doors more widely open for any receptive soul to enter and receive sustenance from Baha'u'llah's Revelation.
- Learning to apply the teachings to the growth of the Faith.
- Spiritual vitality of communities.
- A healthy pattern of growth.
- Material and spiritual human progress.
- Extending the process of systematic learning to encompass a growing range of human endeavours, with the same degree of coherence that characterizes our pattern of growth.
- Sustaining growth in cluster after cluster.
- Struggling against the myriad forms of corruption, overt and subtle, eating at the vitals of society.
- Championing the cause of justice.
- A refuge in the Baha'i community for the masses of humanity.

Some examples of what is happening and where we are going:
- The framework defined by the current series of Plans lends consistency and flexibility to our endeavours.
- It enables us to seize opportunities, to build relationships, and to translate into reality a vision of systematic growth.
- It gives shape to our collective powers.
- The believers in Iran, under the most arduous conditions, have arisen boldly to serve their country and are bending their energies toward its revitalization
- Given the restrictions placed on the administration of the Faith, they have set out on an individual basis to acquaint their fellow citizens with the teachings of Baha'u'llah, directly engaging them in conversations about His redeeming message.
- They have received unprecedented support from enlightened souls.
- They have encountered a receptivity far beyond anything they would have imagined possible.
- Receptivity to the Faith in all parts of the globe will increase as the agonies of humanity deepen.
- The magnitude of the demands will test the capacity of the Baha'i community to its limits.
- The continued prayers of the Universal House of Justice surround us.

Some examples of attitudes and ways of doing things:
- A humble posture of learning.
- Neither hesitate nor falter.
- Neither overstress nor whittle down the truth which we champion.
- Neither fanatical nor excessively liberal.
- Wary or bold, according to receptivity.
- Act swiftly or mark time, according to receptivity.
- Direct or indirect in the methods we employ, according to receptivity.
- Thoughts and actions so free of any trace of prejudice—racial, religious, economic, national, tribal, class, or cultural—that even the stranger sees in us loving friends.
- A standard of excellence so high, and lives so pure and chaste, that the moral influence we exert penetrates the consciousness of the wider community.
- Rectitude of conduct.
- Perceiving honour and nobility in every human being, independent of wealth or poverty.
- Administrative processes of our institutions governed by the principles of Baha'i consultation.
- Confidence that the Concourse on high is marshaling its forces and stands ready to come to our aid.

Some examples of spiritual qualities:
- courage
- wisdom
- zeal
- acuity
- fervour
- circumspection
- determination
- trust in God

To the people of Baha

This is re-posted from my wayfarer's blog.

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December 12

One of my ideas to help me rediscover Baha'u'llah is to study and practice passages addressed to the "people of Baha." I'm starting with The Summons of the Lord of Hosts" because I've been wanting to read that. I read the whole tablet in which I found the first passage. Then I thought about how I could practice subduing the citadels of people's hearts with the swords of wisdom and of utterance. Then I thought about memorizing more of Baha'u'llah's words. I chose a passage from Ruhi Book 6, which led me to the tablet to Siyyid Mihdiy-i-Dahaji. In that tablet, Baha'u'llah says:

"In such manner hath the Kitáb-i-Aqdas been revealed that it attracteth and embraceth all the divinely appointed Dispensations. Blessed those who peruse it. Blessed those who apprehend it. Blessed those who meditate upon it. Blessed those who ponder its meaning. So vast is its range that it hath encompassed all men ere their recognition of it. Ere long will its sovereign power, its pervasive influence and the greatness of its might be manifested on earth. Verily, thy God is the All-Knowing, the All-Informed."

(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 199)

Now I'm going through the Kitab-i-Aqdas again, trying to memorize one paragraph each day, and think about it throughout the day.

To the people of Baha

This is re-posted from my wayfarer's blog.

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December 9

The verse I'm trying to practice now is:

"O people of Baha! Subdue the citadels of men's hearts with the swords of wisdom and of utterance."

(Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 76)

I thought it might help me to memorize some more of Baha'u'llah's words. I looked in Ruhi Book 6, because I'm currently involved in a Book 6 study circle. I memorized this:

"Say: To assist Me is to teach My Cause. This is a theme with which whole Tablets are laden. This is the changeless commandment of God, eternal in the past, eternal in the future. Comprehend this, O ye men of insight."

(Baha'u'llah, Tablets of Baha'u'llah, p. 196)

Now I'm reading the whole tablet (Tablet to Siyyid Mihdiy-i-Dahaji).

Baha'u'llah's words addressed to the people of Baha

This is re-posted from my wayfarer's blog. I've decided to move this project back to this blog.

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November 19

I've started my search in The Summons of the Lord of Hosts because I've been wanting to read that.

"O people of Baha! Subdue the citadels of men's hearts with the swords of wisdom and of utterance."

(Baha'u'llah, The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, p. 78)

In the other blog I posted some of the context of that passage. I won't re-post all that here. It's from a letter to Napoleon. Among other things, Baha'u'llah says to Napoleon: "Adorn the body of Thy kingdom with the raiment of My name, and arise, then, to teach My Cause." Then he says some things that seem to be addressed to all people, along with some things addressed specifically to the people of Baha. After that he addresses the priests and monks.

After I read the whole letter, I'd like to consider this section addressed to the people, one sentence at a time, and look for ways to improve my practice of what Baha'u'llah is saying.

I'm sitting here wonder how I might do that. What can I do, for example, to improve my practice of "O people of Baha! Subdue the citadels of men's hearts with the swords of wisdom and of utterance."? I just remembered that I can always practice in make believe if I don't find any other way. I can try to think of examples of subduing the citadels of men's hearts with the swords of wisdom and of utterance, and act them out

Spam

I just had my first comment spam, and I can't find any way to delete it. Darn! I had forgotten to turn on word verification for this blog.

Freedom from estrangement

One of my biggest challenges now, in practicing freedom from estrangement, is learning to see some good in global corporations, and in governments I see revolving around global corporate interests.