What is Prayer?

The message of the Universal House of Justice to the Bahá'ís in Iran, dated 18 December 2014, contained a beautiful paragraph on what prayer is. Based on the paragraph, I split each sentence into a separate slide, used some beautiful photographs taken by Chad and made a small slideshow. This can be used as an inspiration for devotional meetings, Ruhi book 1, or just as a personal reflection.

Here is the extract:

The Twin Luminaries of this resplendent age have taught us this: Prayer is the essential spiritual conversation of the soul with its Maker, direct and without intermediation. It is the spiritual food that sustains the life of the spirit. Like the morning’s dew, it brings freshness to the heart and cleanses it, purifying it from attachments of the insistent self. It is a fire that burns away the veils and a light that leads to the ocean of reunion with the Almighty. On its wings does the soul soar in the heavens of God and draw closer to the divine reality. Upon its quality depends the development of the limitless capacities of the soul and the attraction of the bounties of God, but the prolongation of prayer is not desirable. The powers latent in prayer are manifested when it is motivated by the love of God, beyond any fear or favour, and free from ostentation and superstition. It is to be expressed with a sincere and pure heart conducive to contemplation and meditation so that the rational faculty can be illumined by its effects. Such prayer will transcend the limitation of words and go well beyond mere sounds. The sweetness of its melodies must gladden and uplift the heart and reinforce the penetrating power of the Word, transmuting earthly inclinations into heavenly attributes and inspiring selfless service to humankind.

You can download the What is prayer PDF.

winding down

it seems that with people spending their last hours and minutes awake in front of the computer, skyping or chatting with friends, that there is very little to no time to wind down before going to sleep. how do you sort out your impressions and experiences of the day, if you are not allowing yourself some silent moments and time for reflection before sleeping? I think the last 30 minutes awake should be spent away from new impressions - TV, computer, etc. - and spent instead on prayer, meditation and reflection.

your happiness

"you're as happy as you make up your mind to be", from things we forget. so true.

money and people

things we forget is a simple blog that puts up small post-its with deep messages. here are two recent ones that I think were very poignant:

where are your priorities?

revival the movie

kandinsky on painting

"Painting is an art. And art is a power that should be aimed at developing the soul. If art does not do this job, the abyss that separates us from God is left without a bridge.

The artist owes his talent to God and has to settle this debt. To do this, he has to work hard, know that he is free in his art but not in his commitment to life. Everything he feels and thinks is part of the raw material with which to improve the spiritual atmosphere around him.

Beauty, whether in art or in a woman, cannot be empty; it has to be at the service of humankind and the world."

from paulo coelho's blog. also check wiki for more on kandinsky.

prayer

I'm just liking this prayer as of recently:

Praise be unto Thee, O my God! I am one of Thy servants, who hath believed on Thee and on Thy signs. Thou seest how I have set myself towards the door of Thy mercy, and turned my face in the direction of Thy loving-kindness. I beseech Thee, by Thy most excellent titles and Thy most exalted attributes, to open to my face the portals of Thy bestowals. Aid me, then, to do  53  that which is good, O Thou Who art the Possessor of all names and attributes!

I am poor, O my Lord, and Thou art the Rich. I have set my face towards Thee, and detached myself from all but Thee. Deprive me not, I implore Thee, of the breezes of Thy tender mercy, and withhold not from me what Thou didst ordain for the chosen among Thy servants.

Remove the veil from mine eyes, O my Lord, that I may recognize what Thou hast desired for Thy creatures, and discover, in all the manifestations of Thy handiwork, the revelations of Thine almighty power. Enrapture my soul, O my Lord, with Thy most mighty signs, and draw me out of the depths of my corrupt and evil desires. Write down, then, for me the good of this world and of the world to come. Potent art Thou to do what pleaseth Thee. No God is there but Thee, the All-Glorious, Who help is sought by all men.

I yield Thee thanks, O my Lord, that Thou hast wakened me from my sleep, and stirred me up, and created in me the desire to perceive what most of Thy servants have failed to apprehend. Make me able, therefore, O my Lord, to behold, for love of Thee and for the Sake of Thy pleasure, whatsoever Thou hast desired. Thou art He to the power of Whose might and sovereignty all things testify.

There is none other God but Thee, the Almighty, the Beneficent.

- Bahá'u'lláh

what will they say of you?

from paulo coelho's blog:

As a boy, Abin-Alsar overheard a conversation between his father and a dervish.
“Careful with your work”, said the dervish. “Think of what future generations will say about you.”
“So what?”, replied his father, “When I die, everything shall end, and it will not matter what they say.”

Abin-Alsar never forgot that conversation. His whole life, he made an effort to do good, to help people and go about his work with enthusiasm. He became well-known for his concern for others; when he died, he left behind a great number of things which improved the quality of life in his town.
On his tombstone, he had the following epitaph engraved:

“A life which ends with death, is a life not well spent.”

letting go of the past

I just finished reading a new earth, a book well worth reading. I actually recommend it to more or less everyone. am re-reading it again, and will probably write some more once I finish it, but for now, here's a nice story from it:

Tanzan and Ekido were once traveling together down a muddy road. A heavy rain was falling. As they came around a bend, they met a lovely girl in a silk kimono and sash, unable to cross at an intersection.
"Come on, girl," said Tanzan at once. Lifting her in his arms, he carried her over the mud.
Ekido did not speak until that night when they reached a lodging temple. Then he could no longer restrain himself. "We monks don't go near females," he told Tanzan, "especially not young and lovely ones. It is dangerous. Why did you do that?"
"I left the girl there," said Tanzan. "Are you still carrying her?"

Now imagine what life would be like for someone who lived like Ekido all the time, unable or unwilling to let go internally of situations, accumulating more and more "stuff" inside, and you get a sense of what life is like for the majority of people on the planet. What a heavy burden of past they carry around with them in their minds.

(I copied the story from wikipedia, and the final paragraph from the book.)

empowering junior youth

the age of 12-15 is often seen as a troublesome age. the kids are starting to grow up, not knowing exactly what is expected of them or where they belong. the Bahá'í juniour youth programs aim to bring some coherence into the lives of junior youth. see more here:


you can read more here or here.

moving closer

looking through my drafts, here's something I found that I had written long ago but never done anything with. lazy as I am to write up my thoughts, I'll just publish it.

When Ketu turned twelve years old he was sent to a master, with whom he studied until he was twenty-four. Upon finishing his training, he came back home filled with pride.
His father asked him:
“How can we know what we can’t see? How can we know that God the Almighty is everywhere?”
The young man began to recite the sacred scriptures, but his father interrupted him:
“That’s all too complicated. Isn’t there an easier way for us to learn about the existence of God?”
“Not that I know of, my father. Today I am a learned man and I need this knowledge to explain the mysteries of divine wisdom.”
“I have wasted my time and money sending my son to the monastery,” complained the father.
And taking Ketu by the hand, he led him to the kitchen. There he filled a basin with water and poured in a little salt. Then they went for a stroll in the city.
When they came back home, the father told Ketu:
“Bring the salt that I put in the basin.”
Ketu looked for the salt but did not find it because it had already dissolved in the water.
“So you can’t see the salt any more?” asked the father.
“No, the salt’s invisible.”
“Then taste a little of the water that’s on the surface of the basin. How does it taste?”
“Salty.”
“Try a little of the water in the middle: how does it taste?”
“As salty as on the surface.”
“Now taste the water at the bottom of the basin and tell me what it tastes like.”
Ketu tried it and it had the same taste as he had felt before.
“You have studied for many years and can’t explain simply how Invisible God is in all parts,” said the father. “Using a basin of water, and calling God “salt”, I could make any peasant understand that. Please, dear son, forget the wisdom that moves us away from men and look again for the Inspiration that draws us closer.”

paulo coelho's blog

The Prophets and Chosen Ones have all been commissioned by the One True God, magnified be His glory, to nurture the trees of human existence with the living waters of uprightness and understanding, that there may appear from them that which God hath deposited within their inmost selves. As may be readily observed, each tree yieldeth a certain fruit, and a barren tree is but fit for fire.

Kitab-i-Aqdas, q106

Existence is like a tree, and man is the fruit. If the fruit be sweet and agreeable, all is well, but if it be bitter it were far better there were none. Every man who has known the celestial bestowals is verily a treasury; if he remain ignorant of them, his non-existence were better than his existence. The tree which does not bring forth fruit is fit only for the fire. Strive night and day to change men into fruitful trees, virgin forests into divine orchards and deserts into rose gardens of significance. Light these lamps, that the dark world may become illumined.

(Abdu'l-Baha, Divine Philosophy, p. 110)

prayer

this is one of my favorite prayers at the moment:

O seeker of Truth! If thou desirest that God my open thine eye, thou must supplicate unto God, pray to and commune with Him at midnight, saying:

O Lord, I have turned my face unto Thy kingdom of oneness and am immersed in the sea of Thy mercy. O Lord, enlighten my sight by beholding Thy lights in this dark night, and make me happy by the wine of Thy love in this wonderful age. O Lord, make me hear Thy call, and open before my face the doors of Thy heaven, so that I may see the light of Thy glory and become attracted to Thy beauty. Verily, Thou art the Giver, the Generous, the Merciful, the Forgiving.

- 'Abdu'l-Bahá

unity makes people happy!

a friend sent this to me:



and I started wondering - do people get the point? this guy is going all around the world, "dancing" with kids and adults regardless of their background, regardless of who they are, where they're from or what they do in life. the point is clear - he doesn't care who you are, as long as you come and dance and have fun!

click here to then read the comments - it's making people happy, they're crying and enjoying it a lot.

what is it that makes us so happy to see something as simple as this? there're no words (except for the lyrics to the song which we don't understand), there's no real story, there's nothing more. I think it has to do with the fact that it's reflecting a very underlying spiritual principle - unity in diversity. we are all members of one human race, and seeing this guy dance all around shows just exactly that. continent, country, class, creed, gender - we are all one.

The world of humanity is like a garden and the various races are the flowers which constitute its adornment and decoration. ('Abdu'l-Bahá)

catching up!

it's been a long time since I was able to update anything... things have been hectic, and there's been a lot going on. here's an attempt at summarizing the past 4 weeks or so:

eilat
almost four weeks ago, we went to eilat over the weekend. it was a very relaxing weekend, where we basically didn't do much at all. we arrived at around 1 am on thursday night (or well, friday morning), and it was somewhere around 40 degrees. ridiculous :)
I got to go on a camel ride and it was quite an exciting thing. first time I've actually gone riding (never done horses), and it was a cool experience. and driving home through the desert watching the sunset was really nice. took a lot of pictures, they'll come up later.

tiberias, sea of galilee and around
two weekends ago, we went to a small camping trip as a kind of farewell for one of my friends who's leaving soon. we went to places around the sea of galilee, which has its historical importance, especially from the time of Jesus. we brought some excellent food (ribs, chicken, etc etc) for a lovely bbq, had a beautiful night, and took something like 1500+ shots. in about 24h. we were 10 people in 4 tents (3 + 2 + 1 + 1), and me and a friend slept outside under bare skies. it was the first time I'd ever done it (it's too cold to do it in sweden - even during summer!) so it was a really nice experience :)
we also coined a new phrase: someone having high "hopes and dreams and aspirations", said in a very indian accent :) it just turned into something that was constantly repeated... with a lot of laughter following.
we also made some visits to historical sites such as bethsaida (at least the one of galilee, didn't know there were two); the jordan river, where Jesus was baptized; and also a Baha'i cemetary where Mirza Muhammad-Quli, Bahá'u'lláh's half-brother, is buried with his family. it was a really beautiful end to a really fun camping trip.

maintenance of the Holy Places
well back here, there was a presentation on how the Holy Places are maintained and restored. it was a really amazing presentation, that showed what amounts of care and effort go into taking care of our Holy Places. there were some beautiful pictures, and a lot of "before and after"-shots, and definitely not fake! I think all of us present got a completely new idea and connection to the Holy Places, just the understanding of what really goes into it all was absolutely breathtaking.

Ruhi
with a group of friends, we decided to go through the entire sequence of Ruhi courses. the concepts in book 1 are fairly simple, understanding the Bahá'í writings, prayer and life and death, and despite having been through the book a number of times, there are always things that strike a chord in my mind. this time around it's specifically been two quotations that have sort of caught my mind and attention. the first one is one that I've had up before, and again it's made me think of what I say:

A kindly tongue is the lodestone of the hearts of men. It is the bread of the spirit, it clotheth the words with meaning. It is the fountain of the light of wisdom and understanding...

the second one:

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.

here's how I explained this thought to a friend:
"it just hit a note with me that even though we are saying our prayers late at night and are just really, really tired and want to get over with it, we should still say our prayers in a way that will attract their hearts! to me it made me focus a lot more on what I say, even though I'm just by myself in my room at night and no one is really hearing what I'm saying. I should *still* say it in a way as if there are people around, and also that there will be others who can be affected by my prayers. interesting note..."

besides that, the group is utterly hilarious to be with. we talk a lot, we have a lot of fun, but we're still quite efficient and learning a lot.

tropic thunder
I saw the trailer of tropic thunder, and wasn't too impressed. nevertheless, a bunch of friends said they were going to watch it, and I decided to tag along. and I don't regret it at all! I was laughing so much during pretty much the entire movie, and just loved it so much! unfortunately there was quite a fair amount of foul language and dirty jokes, but it was still sooooo much fun!


I think that'll be it for my summary of recent events. I will try to post a bit more thoughtful stuff soon, and a bit more pictures. there're a few thoughts and ideas more that I want to share...

and my parents are coming in a week! :)

mercy, justice and the golden rule...

... in a new format:

If thou lookest toward mercy, regard not that which benefits thyself, and look to that which benefits all mankind. If thou lookest toward Justice, choose thou for others what thou choosest for thyself.

- Bahá'u'lláh -

Christ returns

last week I picked up thief in the night:


the author, william sears, finds himself in the largest quest of his life - the case of the missing millennium. in the first half of the 1800s, people were convinced that the return of Christ would take place, and everyone was expecting it. 100 years later, "Christ returns" was also deemed to be one of the most exciting newspaper headlines ever. but what happened to it?

thief in the night describes william sears' ten year long journey in his search for proofs, evidence, prophesies, questions and answers. did the return of Christ happen? if so, when was it? and why did so many miss it?

it's a very interesting personal and revealing story, and well worth reading, regardless of your beliefs. will it change your life? possibly...

talents, movie and piano

that's a pretty good summary of my weekend, which turned out into a really good one.

friday evening sported an open mic. with around 30-35 appearances, it was bound to be long. but it was good. and fun. there was everything to enjoy, from singing and dancing to poetry recital, story reading and the random talk. it's an amazing amount of talent here, and I'm sure there were a couple of people more who could've wowed the crowd. maybe for next time.

afterwards we went to have some pizza and watch troy, but that's not the movie I'm thinking about. no, something better was to come...

much better indeed. we went to see batman the dark knight after having it recommended to me by quite a fair amount of people, and I found it to be as good as it was made out to be. I really enjoyed the characters, the plot and the action. one thing I also really enjoyed was the level of sacrifice among many of the characters. I don't want to spoil the plot if you haven't seen it already, but it's really encouraging to see how many that are wiling to sacrifice themselves for the greater good. something really inspiring actually.

in the evening we went to a piano recital, which was just absolutely amazing. two of the youth here decided to share some of their talents with us, and it was really breathtaking. they started off with this quotation from Bahá'u'lláh:

We have made it lawful for you to listen to music and singing. Take heed, however, lest listening thereto should cause you to overstep the bounds of propriety and dignity. Let your joy be the joy born of My Most Great Name, a Name that bringeth rapture to the heart, and filleth with ecstasy the minds of all who have drawn nigh unto God. We, verily, have made music as a ladder for your souls, a means whereby they may be lifted up unto the realm on high; make it not, therefore, as wings to self and passion.

watching them play made me wish that I hadn't stopped playing piano some 10 years ago or so. there's something soothing about being able to sit down by a piano, just play something and relax. beyond the beauty and enjoyment of the music (there's also something special about listening to piano being played live), what made me enjoy this recital even more was how they themselves were so into the music they were playing, the facial expressions (we got to sit quite close), and just their engagement into their playing. it was a really nice ending to the weekend, and I think we all left there feeling happy, relaxed, and uplifted. thank you guys!

you can run, but you can't hide...

... from yourself. let me explain.

a lot of people try to pack up and move, leave for another city or even country, when they feel that they're standing still in their life. or perhaps they've gotten into a routine or pattern that they're not happy with and want to change it. moving to a new place will allow them to start all over again, and this time "do it right".

here's a reason why it won't work: wherever you go, you'll always bring yourself with you. as einstein is attributed to have said: "we cannot solve our problems with the same mind that created them."

what is needed is a change of self, a personal transformation. this can be done regardless of where you are, but usually comes with some great effort and possibly. you will need to change some inherent parts of yourself that perhaps have grown accustomed to and sometimes even partly enjoy, but in the long run will not be good for you.

so what is it that can help? here are a few quotations from the Bahá'í Writings:

... the Divine Elixir that can, alone, transmute into purest gold the dross of the world, and have been empowered to administer the infallible remedy for all the ills that afflict the children of men. No man can obtain everlasting life, unless he embraceth the truth of this inestimable, this wondrous, and sublime Revelation.

Bahá'u'lláh

Such is the potency of the Divine Elixir, which, swift as the twinkling of an eye, transmuteth the souls of men!

Bahá'u'lláh

Without the intermediary of the Holy Spirit, man would remain dull, helpless and deprived of attainment. But touched by that Divine Elixir he becomes tender, loving, responsive, and capable of every perfection of existence.

'Abdu'l-Bahá

the Divine Elixir is nothing other than the Word of God: "Every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God is endowed with such potency as can instill new life into every human frame..."

it is just for us to read, ponder and meditate upon them.

interesting connection

both these quotations are from 'Abdu'l-Bahá, Son of Bahá'u'lláh, Founder of the Bahá'í Faith:

"As ye have faith so shall your powers and blessings be."

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

so by gathering (useful) knowledge, and then putting that knowledge into use (good deeds), that will give us powers and blessings.

unity!

Strive with heart and soul in order to bring about union and harmony among the white and the black and prove thereby the unity of the Bahá'í world wherein distinction of colour findeth no place, but where hearts only are considered. Praise be to God, the hearts of the friends are united and linked together, whether they be from the east or the west, from north or from south, whether they be German, French, Japanese, American, and whether they pertain to the white, the black, the red, the yellow or the brown race. Variations of colour, of land and of race are of no importance in the Bahá'í Faith; on the contrary, Bahá'í unity overcometh them all and doeth away with all these fancies and imaginations.

'Abdu'l-Bahá

one of the great benefits of being here is to actually be able to interact with all the people from all over the world. it's not always flawless; different cultures and backgrounds do create different expectations on people and situations, but it works. quite well. and it's beautiful.