A Precious Bounty

I have received my official invitation to go on the 9-Day Baha'i pilgrimage in June of next year! I have fourteen months to prepare, which seems like forever! I am so excited I can hardly stand it!

Most world religions have some sort of pilgrimage that their followers can take in order to pray and worship at their holy places. In the Baha'i Faith, pilgrimage is considered a privilege and a bounty of inestimable value. It is not only a physical journey to the historical and sacred sites of the Faith, but an important inner journey of immense spiritual significance.

Below I have gathered some of the images of various holy sites of pilgrimage from many of the different world religions. Have you ever been on pilgrimage to a site you find sacred? Do you hope to some day? Please share your experiences, thoughts or feelings on pilgrimage from your spiritual tradition.

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The image above is from the Baha'i World Centre on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. The building you see is the Shrine of The Báb (which means "The Gate"). The Báb was the Founder of the Babi religion and the Herald of Baha'u'llah. I will be staying at a hotel on Mount Carmel during my pilgrimage and it will be a short walk for me to visit this Shrine.

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This is the Shrine of Bahá'u'lláh located in Bahjí near Acre, Israel. It is the most holy place for Bahá'ís and represents our Qiblih, or direction of prayer. It contains the remains of Bahá'u'lláh and is near the spot where he died in the Mansion of Bahjí. This is the most sacred place I will be visiting during my pilgrimage.

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The Temple in Jerusalem was the center of the Jewish religion, until its destruction in 70 CE. Since then, the western retaining wall of the original temple, known as the Wailing Wall, or Western Wall remains in the Old City of Jerusalem and this has been the most sacred site for religious Jews.

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The Church of the Holy Sepulchre, also called the Church of the Resurrection by Eastern Christians, is a church within the walled Old City of Jerusalem. The site is venerated as Golgotha (the Hill of Calvary), where Jesus was crucified and is said to also contain the place where Jesus was buried (the sepulchre). The church has been an important Christian pilgrimage destination since at least the 4th century.

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The Hajj is the annual pilgrimage to Mecca, Saudi Arabia. It is one of the largest annual pilgrimages in the world, and is the fifth pillar of Islam, a religious duty that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every able-bodied Muslim who can afford to do so. The Hajj is a demonstration of the solidarity of the Muslim people, and their submission to God (Allah).

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Gautama Buddha is said to have identified four sites most worthy of pilgrimage for his followers, saying that they would produce a feeling of spiritual urgency. One of them pictured above, is in Kushinagar, where there rests a 1500 year old statue of the Buddha as he attained Parinirvana (Great Nirvana or passing away).

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The Badrinath temple in India is widely considered to be one of the holiest Hindu temples, and is dedicated to the god Vishnu. The temple and town are one of the four Char Dham pilgrimage sites. It was traditionally believed that one who undertakes a pilgrimage to all four sites will attain moksha, the release from samsara (cycle of rebirths), at the time of death.

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Keep Your Head Up!

This weekend I am trying to take it a little easy, so the blog is going to be very brief (normally I spend hours looking up quotes and pictures). I thought a good thing to do would be to just post the coolest Baha'i video I have seen in a long time.

It is actually a music video by Andy Grammer, son of Red Grammer. The version shown below is only one of many versions of this video. The original is filmed like one of those old "Choose Your Own Adventure" books they had back in the 80's. It can be found here - http://www.andygrammer.com/. At that site you can actually make choices throughout the video as to what you would like to see happen. For example, Andy can bump into movers or be dumped by the bikers at the beginning. There are numerous choices like that throughout. Super fun! Not to mention, the song itself is very uplifting and catchy and Rainn Wilson from the Office is in it.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous weekend and enjoy the video!

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Cleansing the Soul

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So, I started the annual Bahá'í Fast this last Wednesday, and I am really excited about it this year. I don't know why necessarily, except that I've grown a lot in the last three years and I am more focused on developing spiritually than I've ever been before. And that is what fasting is all about.

All Bahá'ís in good health fast for nineteen days every year, from March 2nd thru March 20th. It starts immediately following the festival of Ayyam-i-Ha and ends right before the Bahá'í New Year(Naw Ruz). During the Fast we refrain from food and drink (including water) from sunrise to sunset. Absolutely nothing is supposed to pass our lips during daylight hours. The purpose is to become re-energized and refocused on what is most important in life - our spirituality and relationship with God.

Bahá'u'lláh says that God "hast endowed every hour of these days with a special virtue" which is "inscrutable to all" but Him, that the Fast is "conducive to preservation and protection from tests" and is "the supreme remedy and the most great healing for the disease of self and passion". Basically, the Fast helps us grow closer to God by becoming detached from worldly desires.

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So, every morning during the Fast I get up early and say my prayers and eat and drink enough to get me through the day. Then, after the sun sets, I thank God for helping me get through the day and then eat dinner and replenish my fluids. It can be hard sometimes. The second day of the Fast this year was no picnic (you don't want to know).

But the spiritual benefits FAR outweigh the physical challenges. During the Fast I am reminded how lucky I am to have such easy access to both food and clean drinking water. Did you know that every 20 seconds a child dies from a water related disease? That is 1.4 million every year. When refraining (by choice) from basic necessities that you typically take for granted, you can't help but feel immensely and acutely grateful for all that you have.

And I do grow spiritually, a little more every day. That's why I love the Fast.

What do you think about fasting? Does your spiritual tradition practice fasting? Have you ever done it? Do you have some quotes to share? Tell me all about it then!

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"These are the days of the Fast. 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. Verily, He guideth whomsoever He willeth to the straight path." -Bahá'u'lláh

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

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"The wisdom of obligatory prayer is this: That it causeth a connection between the servant and the True One, because at that time man with all his heart and soul turneth his face towards the Almighty, seeking His association and desiring His love and companionship. For a lover, there is no greater pleasure than to converse with his beloved, and for a seeker, there is no greater bounty than intimacy with the object of his desire. It is the greatest longing of every soul who is attracted to the Kingdom of God to find time to turn with entire devotion to his Beloved, so as to seek His bounty and blessing and immerse himself in the ocean of communion, entreaty and supplication. Moreover, obligatory prayer and fasting produce awareness and awakening in man, and are conducive to his protection and preservation from tests." -Abdu'l-Baha

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"Cling firmly to obligatory prayer and fasting. Verily, the religion of God is like unto heaven; fasting is its sun, and obligatory prayer is its moon" -Bahá'u'lláh

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"This Fast leadeth to the cleansing of the soul from all selfish desires, the acquisition of spiritual attributes, attraction to the breezes of the All-Merciful, and enkindlement with the fire of divine love." -Abdu'l-Bahá

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"We, verily, have set forth all things in Our Book, as a token of grace unto those who have believed in God, the Almighty, the Protector, the Self-Subsisting. And We have ordained obligatory prayer and fasting so that all may by these means draw nigh unto God, the Most Powerful, the Well-Beloved. We have written down these two laws and expounded every irrevocable decree. We have forbidden men from following whatsoever might cause them to stray from the Truth, and have commanded them to observe that which will draw them nearer unto Him Who is the Almighty, the All-Loving. Say: Observe ye the commandments of God for love of His beauty, and be not of those who follow in the ways of the abject and foolish." -Bahá'u'lláh

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Happy Ayyam-i-Ha!

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Happy Ayyam-i-Ha everyone! I skipped posting on the blog last week since I was getting ready for my Ayyam-i-Ha party this weekend. I hadn't had an Ayyam-i-Ha celebration in my home in a really long time and I wanted it to be great. For those of you who may not know what Ayyam-i-Ha is, I will explain.

The Baha'i calendar has 19 months with 19 days each which leaves 4 days left over (5 in a leap year) in order to align with the 365 days of the Gregorian solar calendar. Bahá'u'lláh, The prophet-founder of the Baha'i Faith, declared that these days should be celebrated with acts of love, fellowship, unity, charity, gift-giving and goodwill. Ayyam-i-Ha means "The Days of Ha". “Ha” is an Arabic term that essentially means the “Essence of God.”

When I was young my mom decided to create a tradition to help us celebrate by creating an "Ayyam-i-Ha Tree". This year, I decided to re-create my childhood Ayyam-i-Ha tree in order to make it more of a celebration. The symbolism behind all the decorations/ornaments (leaves, flags, doves and nine pointed stars) come directly from the Baha'i Writings. The relevant quotes are directly below the pictures. I think the tree turned out great! What do you think?

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"God has created man in order that he may be a dove of the Kingdom, a heavenly candle, a recipient of eternal life. God has created man in order that he may be resuscitated through the breaths of the Holy Spirit and become the light of the world."(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 185)

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"It is not for him to pride himself who loveth his own country, but rather for him who loveth the whole world. The earth is but one country, and mankind its citizens." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 250)

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"The tabernacle of unity hath been raised; regard ye not one another as strangers. Ye are the fruits of one tree, and the leaves of one branch." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 218)

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"These sanctified Mirrors, these Day Springs of ancient glory, are, one and all, the Exponents on earth of Him Who is the central Orb of the universe, its Essence and ultimate Purpose. From Him proceed their knowledge and power; from Him is derived their sovereignty. The beauty of their countenance is but a reflection of His image, and their revelation a sign of His deathless glory. They are the Treasuries of Divine knowledge, and the Repositories of celestial wisdom. Through them is transmitted a grace that is infinite, and by them is revealed the Light that can never fade. These Tabernacles of Holiness, these Primal Mirrors which reflect the light of unfading glory, are but expressions of Him Who is the Invisible of the Invisibles. By the revelation of these Gems of Divine virtue all the names and attributes of God, such as knowledge and power, sovereignty and dominion, mercy and wisdom, glory, bounty, and grace, are made manifest." (Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 47)

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Thank you one and all for sharing this celebration of Ayyam-i-Ha! Having my friends there really made it special and it meant a lot to me! Happy Ayyam-i-Ha and I hope to see you all next year! Enjoy these pictures from the Gag-Gift Ayyam-i-Ha party that we had last night!

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Endeavor to grow

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“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement, and success have no meaning.” - Benjamin Franklin

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Today's blog is a little of a rehash of a blog from last year. But I felt like it was important to revist since it is kinda the whole reason I started this - I am trying to think and grow and learn in spiritual ways. For years and years I completely ignored the spiritual side of my self. I did not work at developing my spiritual qualities or virtues. I closed off the side of my self that wanted to grow and develop, to become more than what I was. I had no interest in anything other than fulfilling my human needs, my physical desires, my selfish thoughts.

Now that I am trying to grow and develop and focus on my spirituality I have found that it is a constant challenge to remain focused on my goals. Who do I want to be? How do I want to act? What qualities do I want to exhibit? How can I function effectively in a world that doesn't seem to value spirituality? Or care about focusing on the transcendent?

I found the following video today on a really cool website I enjoy visiting called http://www.globalonenessproject.org/. Check it out.

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His thoughts truly mirror some of my own. I believe in oneness and ultimately, that somewhere deep down, the best parts of our selves are infinitely more beautiful than we realize. We are spiritual beings, with intuition and a mind full of thoughts and feelings. It is important to use that mind to study, to question and to talk with others so we can share and learn and connect in more profound and powerful ways. To me, there is nothing more important than striving to become better, to focus on developing my spiritual self - to become more patient, more compassionate, more just, more thoughtful, more loyal, more brave, more polite, more honest...more loving.

So, what do you think about growing and developing? Do you believe in striving to become better? What "philosophy" on growth do you adhere to? Thoughts? Quotes?

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"...until material achievements, physical accomplishments and human virtues are reinforced by spiritual perfections, luminous qualities and characteristics of mercy, no fruit or result shall issue therefrom, nor will the happiness of the world of humanity, which is the ultimate aim, be attained." (Abdu'l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of Abdu'l-Baha, p. 283)

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"Happiness consists of two kinds; physical and spiritual. The physical happiness is limited; its utmost duration is one day, one month, one year. It hath no result. Spiritual happiness is eternal and unfathomable. This kind of happiness appeareth in one's soul with the love of God and suffereth one to attain to the virtues and perfections of the world of humanity. Therefore, endeavor as much as thou canst in order to illumine the lamp of thy heart with the light of love." (Compilations, Baha'i Scriptures, p. 472)

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Let no one cling to what is pleasant or unpleasant.
Not to see what is pleasant is painful,
as it is to see what is unpleasant.
Therefore do not become attached to anything;
loss of what is loved is painful.
Those who have neither likes nor dislikes have no chains.

From pleasure comes grief; from pleasure comes fear.
Whoever is free from pleasure knows neither grief nor fear.

From attachment comes grief; from attachment comes fear.
Whoever is free from attachment knows neither grief nor fear.

From greed comes grief; from greed comes fear.
Whoever is free from greed knows neither grief nor fear.

From lust comes grief; from lust comes fear.
Whoever is free from lust knows neither grief nor fear.

From craving comes grief; from craving comes fear.
Whoever is free from craving knows neither grief nor fear.

Whoever has virtue and insight,
who is just, truthful, and does one's own work,
the world will love.

The one in whom a desire for the ineffable has arisen,
whose mind is satisfied
and whose thoughts are free from desires
is called one who ascends the stream." (Dhammapada, Sayings of the Buddha 2)

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According as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue: Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises: that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the world through lust.

And beside this, giving all diligence, add to your faith virtue; and to virtue knowledge; And to knowledge temperance; and to temperance patience; and to patience godliness; And to godliness brotherly kindness; and to brotherly kindness charity.

For if these things be in you, and abound, they make you that ye shall neither be barren nor unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ."(King James Bible, 2 Peter 1:3-8)

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"There comes a day, O Spitama Zarathustra! or a night, when the master leaves the cattle, or the cattle leave the master, or the soul leaves that body full of desires; But his virtue, which is of all existences the greatest, the best, the finest, never parts from a man."(The Zend-Avesta, Avesta Fragments)

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