got you, got you real good!

last wednesday was the birthday of my flatmate's cousin. so I sent him an e-mail, saying "you, me, x, y. tomorrow. dinner. 7 pm." and that's it. supposedly it would be a small dinner, the four of us.

that's what he thought. in reality, we had invited about 20-25 people to surprise him, and it really worked out well. he didn't expect anything, we even caught the video of him being surprised (up on facebook). here's a pic:


and here is the album.

do you have a beautiful camel?

yours might win a beauty prize... check out this article.

what a weekend!

it's been another amazing weekend again. it started off with work on friday morning, and it almost felt like I accomplished more during that half-day than the entire week. not entirely true, as there had been a lot of previous thinking going on during the week, but it finally got turned into something concrete during the day. really good stuff.

and then there was a class on the Covenant. the Covenant is unique to the Bahá'í Faith, as it guarantees the unity by clearly appointing the successors to the Faith. in a way, it's a very simple concept, but there's so much more to it. it was so very interesting, quite amazing class actually. and there are two more sessions to go!

friday evening was rounded up by a very nice engagement party/bbq for a girl in our orientation. her fiancé was up here from kiwi-land and so we threw a nice one for them. here's a pic:


the program was pretty much food, food, short quiz-like thingie ("how well do you know each other?") and more desserts. awesome turnout, and I think they enjoyed it. here is the rest of the album.

on saturday I got to do my first shift as volunteer security. unfortunately I don't have any pictures of it, but hopefully I'll take new ones next time. it was a lot of fun, dealing with people and trying to explain things in hebrew (didn't go so well), russian (even worse), and english. got to meet two people who spoke some norwegian, which was quite fun, and also a finnish family. couldn't say much more than hyvä suomi (go finland), kiitos (thank you), and naudi (enjoy). need to learn more random phrases in random languages I think.

spent the afternoon taking a nap, cooking, and going to the Shrine. finished the night with a nice devotional back home. the whole weekend left me on a high, and I hope to be able to bring it on during the rest of the week. yay for weekends like this!

6. O SON OF BEING!

Thy Paradise is My love; thy heavenly home, reunion with Me. Enter therein and tarry not. This is that which hath been destined for thee in Our kingdom above and Our exalted dominion.

word definition:
tarry: to delay or be tardy in acting, starting, coming, etc.; linger or loiter.

I'm not sure how much more there is to say except what's in the Hidden Word. I've already talked about loving God, and it is quite clear that we should hurry to loving and reuniting with God. that's what is best for us...

is it worth it?

read this great post on alcohol. it is responsible for:

75% of crime of violence

50% of rape cases

30% of child abuse cases

25% of suicides

33% of fatal traffic accidents

and there's still nothing done about it? (not entirely sure where those numbers come from, but here are some other statistics.)

also read A Bahá'í Perspective on Drug Abuse Prevention.

a flower that brings peace

"In the shadow of the lotus, peace and calm prevail" - isn't that a wonderful description? read the story about the temple in india here. it's absolutely magnificent, so beautiful in its architecture, and "... [w]ith more than 4.6 million visitors last year, the temple is one of the most popular spots on earth, in a league with St. Peter's Basilica in Rome and not far behind the Eiffel Tower in Paris."

einstein's theory of relativity...

... in words of four letters or less. read it!

five months in israel

last friday was my 150th day here, and sunday was 5 months of me being here. here's a little something I wrote to our news bulletin back home in sweden.


Summing up five months in the World Centre is not the easiest task in the world. As Mr. Grossman, member of the Universal House of Justice, mentioned during one of his talks, the best description could be "I have seen paradise with its doors wide open." I'll make an attempt.

October 23rd I landed at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv, and after a short security check I was out in the terminal, ready to start my new life. But that's not how I want to tell my story... instead I want to begin with a Hidden Word:

O SON OF JUSTICE!
Whither can a lover go but to the land of his beloved? and what seeker findeth rest away from his heart's desire? To the true lover reunion is life, and separation is death. His breast is void of patience and his heart hath no peace. A myriad lives he would forsake to hasten to the abode of his beloved.

Being here in Israel is really to be in the "land of one's beloved", and have achieved reunion with one's love. Vi have the opportunity to go to the Shrines every day, something many only experience for a few days during their life; we'll get to meet the members of the Universal House of Justice and International Teaching Centre more or less daily, and listen to their inspiring talks; we are contributing to the building of the new World Order of Bahá'u'lláh; and last but not least, we get to experience an extremely diverse multi-cultural environment with people from all possible countries and backgrounds you can imagine, each and everyone with the same purpose - to serve to one's best ability.

After five months it still feels like I've been here for just a week, everything is equally as new and exciting as it was back then. You're happy about seeing all the pilgrims and visitors, some coming here for the first time; the beauty of the gardens and buildings is breathtaking, the attention to details; all knowledge one acquires from the talks inspires one so much to go home and teach. As one of my friends here said, "the longer I am here, the sooner I want to go home!" There is not a talk that doesn't mention the Five Year Plan in some way, if it is the importance of Anna's presentation or all the teaching successes around the world. I hope to soon be hearing about the successes in Sweden!

On a personal level I think my best experiences have been the volunteering I've been able to do here. Helping guiding at the Shrine of the Báb, and also helping out cleaning after closing, has been very special. I have experienced the pouring rain of Israel during a 40 minute long walk in Akka; we've enjoyed artistic presentations in song, music and dance during Sounds of the World; and I've taken more than 1000 pictures.

You experience a completely different nearness compared to being here as a visitor or pilgrim. I really recommend all youth that read this to consider applying here, even if only for a year. It will definitely change your life for all future.

interview with omid djalili

read this interview with omid djalili, funny stand-up comedian, actor (gladiator, pirates 3, the mummy, notting hill, etc), and Bahá'í.

also check out his own page, omid no agenda, and check out his funny blog!

judging...

here's a tip, don't judge others for what they do or might not do. next thing you know, you'll be doing the exact same thing...

O SON OF BEING!
How couldst thou forget thine own faults and busy thyself with the faults of others? Whoso doeth this is accursed of Me.

Naw-Rúz and devotional

on friday we had the celebration of Naw-Ruz, the new year, and this year it was a bit extra special to me. as mentioned before, I had the great joy of having two of my very closest friends from sweden here, and got to spend quite some time with them:


their period of time here was also almost exactly the same 3-day visit as I made exactly 3 years ago, and celebrated Naw-Ruz. they even flew with same airline! you can see those pictures here. and here you can see my pictures from this year.


and yesterday evening was a really amazing experience. a friend had arranged a musical devotional, with just a lot of singing and chanting of prayers. we were sitting outside, in the vicinity of the Shrine and terraces:


being there was absolutely amazing. we kept on singing and playing for almost two hours, and everyone joined in at one point or the other. it was such an amazing experience which I wish everyone would've had the chance to participate in. hopefully there'll be more of those in the future :)

here are some quotations that came to my mind during the devotional:

"Intone, O My servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of thy melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men.
Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb.
Though he may, at first, remain unaware of its effect, yet the virtue of the grace vouchsafed unto him must needs sooner or later exercise its influence upon his soul.
Thus have the mysteries of the Revelation of God been decreed by virtue of the Will of Him Who is the Source of power and wisdom."

"By My Life and My Cause! Round about whatever dwelling the friends of God may enter, and from which their cry shall rise as they praise and glorify the Lord, shall circle the souls of true believers and all the favored angels."

"Every meeting which is organized for the purpose of unity and concord will be conducive to changing strangers into friends, enemies into associates, and 'Abdu'l-Bahá will be present in His heart and soul with that meeting."

"... where some among them will engage in glorifying the All-Glorious Lord... Know that shouldst thou bring this about, that house of earth will become a house of heaven, and that fabric of stone a congress of the spirit."

"It behooveth the friends in whatever land they be, to gather together in meetings, and therein to speak wisely and with eloquence, and to read the verses of God; for it is God's Words that kindle love's fire and set it ablaze."

"Hold meetings and read and chant the heavenly teachings, so that city may be illumined with the light of reality and that country become a veritable paradise by the strength of the Holy Spirit, for this cycle is the cycle of the Glorious Lord and the melody of oneness and solidarity of the world of mankind must reach the ears of the East and West."

the rest of the pictures from last evening are here. I will also have two videos up soon.

summing up the fast

it's been a month of fasting now, and it's been really different from anything before. this is the first time that I'm fasting with so many other Bahá'ís around me, so there naturally have been a very different atmosphere around it. (among other things, a lot of fasting-related jokes have been going home!)

it's been really nice to wake up in the mornings with my flatmates (and a few visitors), have breakfast together, say some prayers, and then go on with the day. a few mornings I've gone back to sleep, and a few others I've stayed up reading. I haven't finished God Passes By yet, have about 100 pages to go, but should be able to do it within a week or so.

the not eating part of it has actually not been difficult at all, which reminds me of this quotation:

In the Prayer of Fasting We have revealed: "Should Thy Will decree that out of Thy mouth these words proceed and be addressed unto them, 'Observe, for My Beauty's sake, the fast, O people, and set no limit to its duration,' I swear by the majesty of Thy glory, that every one of them will faithfully observe it, will abstain from whatsoever will violate Thy law, and will continue to do so until they yield up their souls unto Thee."

I almost feel like I want to keep it up, simply because it is so much easier to just keep on working instead of going for lunch. I manage to keep my train of thought, and with the hour or so lunch break, it takes a while to get back into the working flow again. but then again, it's probably a good idea to keep my body nourished...

as for the spiritual aspects of it, I think being in the World Centre definitely has a special effect on things. it's difficult to explain, but I think it helps to create a greater awareness of the spiritual importance of the fast. it's not as much focus on the not eating part of it, because everyone here already knows about that. fasting is like a dam, we add up spiritual bounties during this time which we can then use for the rest of the year. I'm already looking forward to next year's fasting...

Naw-Rúz, the new year, tomorrow. looking forward to that celebration too :)

5. O SON OF BEING!

Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant.

I think an analogy would be good here: imagine that we are plants, and God's love is the sun. the sun is always shining in all directions, but it is only when we turn towards the right source, that we will be able to benefit from the radiance of it. turning our back will do us no good.

and what does loving God mean? well, I think it simply means getting to know Him, again acquiring those qualities and virtues of Him, and being thankful for what He has bestowed on us.

I'm so happy!

got two of my closest friends from back home here for a 3-day pilgrimage. met them briefly this morning and will hopefully be spending more time with them later on. yay! :)

once, I showered twice

this will probably have to go down as one of the most absent-minded episodes of my life...

I come home after a rather long day, and go to take a shower. as I come out, my flatmate is on his phone with his parents, so I sit down and read a bit. after a little while, I feel that something is wrong. to my great surprise, I realize that I completely forgot to wash my hair! here's how it looked like:


so naturally I had no choice but to get back into the shower and wash my hair...

it's all a blur

but a good one at that:


tried to play around with my camera. using a 15 sec long shutter speed, which means it needs to be stabilized. since I don't have a tripod, I used a friend's head. didn't quite keep it all that stable, but still quite interesting shot. I like it.

4. O SON OF MAN!

I loved thy creation, hence I created thee. Wherefore, do thou love Me, that I may name thy name and fill thy soul with the spirit of life.

a continuation of last week's Hidden Word, with God loving us, and also loving creating us. now we are told to love Him, in other words get to know Him and reflect His qualities. God will then "name our name", which I understand in a way as remembering us and bestowing His bounties and grace upon us, which will fill our soul with the "spirit of life".

being filled with the spirit of life, would be to find that eternal love of God that filled the disciples of Christ, Muhammad's followers, the Letters of the Living, and all heroes and heroines of the Faith. I found a very interesting quotation about the spirit of life in 'Abdu'l-Bahá's Some Answered Questions (pp 300-301), which explains this spirit of life, the love of God, and its effect (my bolding):

"... the love of God, the light of which shines in the lamp of the hearts of those who know God; its brilliant rays illuminate the horizon and give to man the life of the Kingdom. In truth, the fruit of human existence is the love of God, for this love is the spirit of life, and the eternal bounty. If the love of God did not exist, the contingent world would be in darkness; if the love of God did not exist, the hearts of men would be dead, and deprived of the sensations of existence; if the love of God did not exist, spiritual union would be lost; if the love of God did not exist, the light of unity would not illuminate humanity; if the love of God did not exist, the East and West, like two lovers, would not embrace each other; if the love of God did not exist, division and disunion would not be changed into fraternity; if the love of God did not exist, indifference would not end in affection; if the love of God did not exist, the stranger would not become the friend. The love of the human world has shone forth from the love of God and has appeared by the bounty and grace of God."

quite beautiful and amazing, isn't it?

amazing

I must say there's been some incredible reception since I "announced" theaqdas.org about two weeks ago. with two more announcements on thursday and sunday, the statistics suddenly shot up. there've been more than 1200 visitors to the site from 78 countries and territories, from literally all over the world.

I've gotten random e-mails of encourage from people, with comments and a few suggestions. I must say I'm absolutely stunned as to the reception so far. I just hope people will also be able to use it and not just check the site out and be done.

it's an evergoing process, I'm practically working on small tweaks and fixes every day, but hopefully I'll feel happy enough to let it be. it might need a rewrite sometime in the future, but that's for later.

do I have anything else coming up? maybe... ;)

Bahá'í Service Fellowship at Tahirih Justice Center

promised to post this, hopefully someone is interested? make sure to spread it :)

Tahirih Justice Center - Bahá’í Service Fellowship
August 2008 – August 2009/10

The Tahirih Justice Center is currently accepting applications from Bahá’ís interested in serving for the duration of a year to two years as the Tahirih Justice Center’s 2008 – 2009/10 Bahá’í Service Fellow. This is a full-time fellowship, offered to one or two individuals annually. The fellowship was created to enable the recipient to engage in service and learn from the work of a renowned Bahá’í-inspired non-profit organization whilst also dedicating time during the year to a personal plan of spiritual development and deepening.

The Fellow(s) will work most closely with the Legal Department and take on the role of a paralegal. This is a service position and is unpaid. Medical insurance and a small stipend ($1000/month) to help cover personal expenses will be provided. We will also assist in finding a local Bahá’í host family to provide room and partial board for the duration of the year.

Basic qualifications: Undergraduate degree, strong writing and communication skills, foreign language proficiency, informed interest in international women’s rights, experience living abroad or working with immigrant communities.

For more information and application materials, e-mail: Negin Avaregan at negin@tahirih.org. Deadline: April 1st, 2008.

The Tahirih Justice Center is a Bahá’í-inspired 501(c)(3) non-profit organization that seeks to enable women and girls who face gender-based violence to access justice, with a particular emphasis on immigrant women. The Tahirih Justice Center engages in pro bono legal representation, social services referrals and advocacy in cases that champion the rights of women and protect them from international human rights abuses. Our legal advocacy includes both direct service to individual women and larger efforts to transform policies, develop regulations, and set precedent so that systemic change will ensure the long-term protection of women from violence. The Center is founded on the belief that the achievement of equality between women and men is necessary if society is to progress and is inspired by the principles of the Bahá’í Faith.

“And the honor and distinction of the individual consists in this, that he among all the world's multitudes should become a source of social good. Is a larger bounty conceivable than this, that an individual, looking within himself, should find that by the confirming grace of God, he has become the cause of peace and well-being, of happiness and advantage to his fellow men? No, by the one true God, there is no greater bliss, no more complete delight.”

~ 'Abdu'l- Bahá

www.tahirih.org

turtle on the terraces!

I had a really calm weekend. on friday we had to be out of the office at noon, so I decided to go out on the terraces and read. I was out there for more than two hours, reading, thinking, and enjoying the view:


two interesting things happened while I was sitting there. first of all, I saw a turtle (tortoise?) in the bushes right next to me:


I even managed to get a short video of it walking away, which you can see on facebook...

I also very randomly bumped into two finnish pilgrims that I didn't know from before, but had been told by a friend that I had to send her love to them. well, God works in His own way and suddenly they're walking up the terraces. spent a nice 15-20 minutes talking to them, and saw them again in the evening. lovely couple! :)

see the rest of my shots here.

3. O SON OF MAN!

Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty.

I will add another quotation first:

To every discerning and illumined heart it is evident that God, the unknowable Essence, the divine Being, is immensely exalted beyond every human attribute, such as corporeal existence, ascent and descent, egress and regress. Far be it from His glory that human tongue should adequately recount His praise, or that human heart comprehend His fathomless mystery. He is and hath ever been veiled in the ancient eternity of His Essence, and will remain in His Reality everlastingly hidden from the sight of men.

so God is unknowable, we cannot possibly get to know His essence. however, through His love for us, we are created and have acquired the ability to get to know Him and reflect His glory. God has "engraved on us His image"; we are able to acquire the qualities of God and show them forth as virtues, such as patience, tolerance, discipline, justice, kindness, and, of course, love. here's a beautiful extract of the qualities of God's love for man:

... the love that flows from God to man; it consists of the inexhaustible graces, the Divine effulgence and heavenly illumination. Through this love the world of being receives life. Through this love man is endowed with physical existence, until, through the breath of the Holy Spirit -- this same love -- he receives eternal life and becomes the image of the Living God. This love is the origin of all the love in the world of creation.

also read this compilation on the concept of spiritual beauty.

gems

a continuation of yesterday's roses and thorns:

Regard man as a mine rich in gems of inestimable value. Education can, alone, cause it to reveal its treasures, and enable mankind to benefit therefrom.

- Bahá'u'lláh

roses and thorns

I got this sent to me from a friend, and I think it's really beautiful, worth thinking of:

A certain man planted a rose and watered it faithfully, and before it blossomed, he examined it. He saw the bud that would soon blossom and also the thorns. And he thought, "How can any beautiful flower come from a plant burdened with so many sharp thorns?" Saddened by this thought, he neglected to water the rose, and before it was ready to bloom, it died.

So it is with many people. Within every soul there is a rose. The God-like qualities planted in us at birth grow amid the thorns of our faults. Many of us look at ourselves and see only the thorns, the defects. We despair, thinking that nothing good can possibly come from us. We neglect to water the good within us, and eventually it dies. We never realize our potential.

Some people do not see the rose within themselves; someone else must show it to them. One of the greatest gifts a person can possess is to be able to reach past the thorns and find the rose within others. This is the characteristic of love, to look at a person, and knowing his faults, recognize the nobility in his soul, and help him realize that he can overcome his faults. If we show him the rose, he will conquer the thorns.

Our duty in this world is to help others by showing them their roses and not their thorns. Only then can we achieve the love we should feel for each other; only then can we bloom in our own garden.

-- Author Unknown


I'd like to think of it in connection to this quotation:

“Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity. Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face. Be a treasure to the poor, an admonisher to the rich, an answerer of the cry of the needy, a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge. Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech. Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men. Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness, a joy to the sorrowful, a sea for the thirsty, a haven for the distressed, an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression. Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts. Be a home for the stranger, a balm to the suffering, a tower of strength for the fugitive. Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring. Be an ornament to the countenance of truth, a crown to the brow of fidelity, a pillar of the temple of righteousness, a breath of life to the body of mankind, an ensign of the hosts of justice, a luminary above the horizon of virtue, a dew to the soil of the human heart, an ark on the ocean of knowledge, a sun in the heaven of bounty, a gem on the diadem of wisdom, a shining light in the firmament of thy generation, a fruit upon the tree of humility.”

- Bahá'u'lláh

tip of the day

Always code as if the person who will maintain your code is a maniac serial killer that knows where you live.

william, I dreamt of you

I hope you're doing well and enjoying life. I heard you might be coming over here soon, is that true?

(to everyone else: yes, this post does make perfect sense if you're aware of the circumstances. feel free to ignore it :))

ratatouille!

ratatouille is a cute movie about a rat that happens to have a fascination for cooking. with a bit of luck, both good and bad, he gets lost from the rest of his rat friends and family, and ends up helping a garbage collector cooking at the most famous restaurant in paris, gusteau's.


we get to follow their adventures together, a bit of rough times and then a happy ending (what did you expect, it's a kids' movie :-P). I suppose one could have the moral of the story to be that honesty always is the best solution. even though it might not work out the way you expected it to, it always does in the end.

it's gotten good reviews on imdb (8.3/10), and I'd say it's worth watching. cute and funny at times, and then a little bit of sadness here and there. leaves you with a smile :)

roses

we had some awesome roses growing up in our garden over the past month. some we have kept, some have been delivered to appreciative friends. here's a pic from one we kept in our kitchen:


I also brought one up to my office and took pictures of it every two hours, to see how it unfolded. the coolest thing was to hear the petals when the rose opened. will try to create some sort of animated thingie of it...

album here

fasting time

tomorrow marks the first day of the month of fasting. it's going to be special this time around again, being in the Holy Land and fasting together with 700 other people. I've fasted together with my family, by myself last year, and this time around it will be special again. I have decided to try to read God Passes By during this time, which is an historical account of the first 100 years of the Bahá'í Faith, from 1844-1944. an average of 20 pages a day should be more than possible. I'm not sure what I'll be doing in the evenings, as things will be a bit more free during this time. maybe some more reading there too...

and to fill up a bit from the quotations from last year, here are three short ones:

"Blessed is the one who through the heat generated by the Fast increaseth his love, and who, with joy and radiance, ariseth to perform worthy deeds."

"Fasting and obligatory prayer are as two wings to man's life. Blesed be the one who soareth with their aid in the heaven of the love of God, the Lord of all worlds."

"Verily, I say, fasting is the supreme remedy and the most great healing for the disease of self and passion."

Here are the provisions in the Aqdas on the Fast, and article on bahai.org about the Fast