Safeguard the Innocent Persecution Bahais in Iran

Bahais offer decision-making model at UN

16 February 2010

UNITED NATIONS — A new model of decision-making among peoples of different cultures would contribute to integration "at this time of transition to a new social order," according to a new Baha'i statement.

The statement was prepared for the 48th United Nations Commission for Social Development, which concluded on 12 February. The commission is the chief UN body charged with following up on the World Summit on Social Development held in 1995 in Copenhagen, where world leaders outlined principles that would characterize a new "society for all." These principles included respect for diversity and participation of all people.

The Baha'i International Community said in its statement that it was offering its experience in the method of consultation used by Baha'i communities around the world – a key component in creating unity among people.

The consultative process, the Baha'i statement said, rests on the understanding that all human beings are essentially noble – "they possess reason and conscience as well as capacities for inquiry, understanding, compassion, and service to the common good."

Mr. Ming H. Chong of Singapore, a delegate to the commission who presented a summary of the Baha'i statement, said afterward that understanding the nobility of all humans prevents people from dismissing others as needy rather than being in charge of their own development.

"If you start with (this) understanding, then you have a different perspective, one that avoids labels like 'marginalized' and 'poor,'" he said. He explained that he was a child of immigrants to Singapore and had learned that such labels create the wrong impression of entire groups of people.

"Language shapes the way we think," he said. "It creates mental pictures of how we see the world. Some of these mental pictures are not always positive – those that dehumanize migrants, for example."

The Baha'i statement to the UN commission suggested that the human body can serve as a model for comparing the integration of the world's cultures and peoples. "Within this organism, millions of cells, with extraordinary diversity of form and function, collaborate to make human existence possible. Every least cell has its part to play in maintaining a healthy body," the statement said.

This image can be used to envision the world's peoples as one human family and understand how each culture plays a part in the functioning of the whole, Mr. Chong explained.

In consultation as practiced in Baha'i communities, great value is placed on the diversity of perspectives and contributions that individuals bring to the discussion.

"Actively soliciting views from those traditionally excluded from decision-making not only increases the pool of intellectual resources but also fosters the trust, inclusion, and mutual commitment needed for collective action," the Baha'i statement said.

A key feature of Baha'i consultation is that ideas belong to the group rather than to individuals.

"Detachment from one's positions and opinions regarding the matter under discussion is imperative – once an idea has been shared, it is no longer associated with the individual who expressed it, but becomes a resource for the group to adopt, modify, or discard," the statement said.

A diversity of opinions, however, is not sufficient – it "does not provide communities with a means to bridge differences or to resolve social tensions," it continued.

"In consultation, the value of diversity is inextricably linked to the goal of unity. This is not an idealized unity, but one that acknowledges differences and strives to transcend them through a process of principled deliberation," the statement said. "It is unity in diversity."

The Lords prayer from Jesus Christ´s Original Language

The Prayer To Our Father in the Original Aramaic

Abwûn O cosmic Birther, from whom the breath of life comes,
d’bwaschmâja who fills all realms of sound, light and vibration.
Nethkâdasch schmach May Your light be experienced in my utmost holiest.
Têtê malkuthach. Your Heavenly Domain approaches.
Nehwê tzevjânach aikâna d’bwaschmâja af b’arha. Let Your will come true in the universe (all that vibrates) just as on earth (that is material and dense).
Hawvlân lachma d’sûnkanân jaomâna. Give us wisdom
(understanding, assistance) for our daily need,
Waschboklân chaubên wachtahên aikâna daf chnân schwoken l’chaijabên. detach the
fetters of faults that bind us, (karma) like we let go the guilt of others.
Wela tachlân l’nesjuna Let us not be lost in superficial things (materialism, common temptations),
ela patzân min bischa. but let us be freed from that what keeps us off from our true purpose.
Metol dilachie malkutha wahaila wateschbuchta l’ahlâm almîn. From You comes the all-working will, the lively strength to act,
the song that beautifies all and renews itself from age to age.
Amên. Sealed in trust, faith and truth. (I confirm with my entire being)

Translation by:
http://simontzu.wordpress.com/2005/05/31/the-lords-prayer/

Mastering the Self by Shoghi Effendi

Conquering yourself

Inspiering, Conquer yourserlf, Conquer your Lower Nature
and master the self.
So that you are the one who decides where to go.


“Shoghi Effendi was a very remarkable young man, and of course
he just worshipped ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. And when ‘Abdu’l-Bahá passed
away, the whole world became dark for him. All light had gone
out. When he returned to the Holy Land, he had in mind, from the
things which ‘Abdu’l-Bahá had said to him—and I am now telling
you what he said—he said ‘I had in mind that ‘Abdu’l-Bahá would
give me the honor of . . . calling together the great conclave which
would elect the Universal House of Justice. And I thought in His
Will and Testament that that was probably what He was instructing
be done.’
“‘But,’ he said, ‘instead of that I found that I was appointed the
Guardian of the Cause of God. . . . I didn’t want to be the Guardian
of the Cause. [In the] first place, I didn’t think that I was worthy.
Next place, I didn’t want to face these responsibilities. . . . I didn’t
want to be the Guardian. I knew what it meant. I knew that my life
as a human being was over.’ He said ‘I didn’t want it and I didn’t
want to face it.’
“‘So . . . remember I left the Holy Land, and I went up into the
mountains of Switzerland, and I fought with myself until I conquered
myself. Then I came back and I turned myself over to God
and I was the Guardian.’ ‘Now,’ he said, ‘every Bahá’í in the
world, every person in the world has to do exactly that same thing.
Whether you are a Hand of the Cause, whether you are a Knight of
Bahá’u’lláh, whether you are a member of a National Assembly,
whether you are a teacher, whether you are a pioneer, whether you
are an administrator, regardless of what you are, whatever you are
doing in the Cause, every Bahá’í must fight with himself and conquer
himself. And when he has conquered himself, then he becomes a
true instrument for the service of the Cause of God—and not until
that. And he will not achieve as great a success until he has done it.
And this is what every Bahá’í in the world should know.’
“And this is one of the main things I want you to get out of this
talk tonight and bear out of this talk: the Guardian’s instructions
that every individual must fight with himself, must conquer himself,
must overcome his lower nature, must overcome himself, and turn
himself over to God so that the Holy Spirit can function through
you. And when the Holy Spirit functions through you then you will
gain victory after victory. Because the Holy Spirit is the creative
aspect of God and it cannot do other than win victories and make
successes for the Cause.”
—from a talk given by Hand of the Cause of God Leroy Ioas, In the Days of the Guardian

Is the meaning of faith to just believe?

By faith is meant,
first, conscious knowledge, and second, the practice of good deeds.

(`Abdu'l-Baha: Baha'i World Faith, Page 383)

Rainn Wilson and Oprah Winfrey

Rainn Wilson talks about the Bahai Faith with Oprah Winfrey
Part 1 to 7





Rainn was raised in the Baha'i faith, and his spirituality is the basis of his website http://www.SoulPancake.com. The website's goal is to inspire people to talk about life's big questions and explore their own spirituality and creativity through art, music, photography, social networking, thoughtful discussion and more.

Actor Rainn Wilson, best known for his Emmy-nominated role as Dwight Schrute on the NBC sitcom The Office, has built a successful career in Hollywood on both the big and small screens. Rainn grew up in Washington and Illinois, graduated from Tufts University and attended the graduate acting program at New York University.
What do Baha'is believe?

Bahá'ís believe that there is one God, that all humanity is one family, and that there is a fundamental unity underlying religion. They recognize that the coming of Bahá'u'lláh has opened the age for the establishment of world peace, when, as anticipated in the sacred scriptures of the past, all humanity will achieve its spiritual and social maturity, and live as one united family in a just, global society.
For more information about the Bahá'í Faith please visit, http://www.Bahai.org


Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Part 7