The Bab: An Astonishing Turn of Events

The Shrine of the Bab and its terraces at night. Reprinted by permission of Baha'i International Community, Baha'i Media. View a multi-media Meditation on the Martyrdom of the Bab.

Each July 9th Baha’is in every part of the planet gather to commemorate the martyrdom of the Bab, Who was executed in Tabriz, Persia, 1850 by order of the grand vizier of Persia. The true cause of His death, wrote Baha’u’llah, were the people’s “vain imaginings . . . converted into bullets and aimed at Him Who is the Prince of the world.”

There is always a sense of amazement for listeners when they hear the story of that day – how the first firing squad with 750 rifles missed their target entirely, and when the smoke cleared, found the rope which held the Bab severed, and the Bab Himself nowhere to be seen. Yet the execution of the Bab did go forward a short time later. Read more of this dramatic story in An Astonishing Turn of Events, my guest column in The Baha'i Road blog.

The Bab had walked upon the earth a mere thirty-one years. His only “crime” was His claim to be a Messenger of God, with the sole Mission of preparing the way for One even greater -- the Promised One of All Religions – Baha’u’llah.

What I find most compelling about this story is not the “miracle” but the mind-set of those like the grand vizier, who presumed that killing the Bab could destroy His message; that those in positions of power had power over minds and hearts; that Truth could be so easily extinguished. What is compelling is what happened in the years following the martyrdom of the Bab.

Despite the grand vizier’s plan, the Bab and His Faith were not forgotten. News traveled to Europe, where many were moved by His story. From Paris to London to St. Petersburg, poets and playwrights honored the noble Bab with their arts.

Little more than a century later, on the slopes of Mount Carmel in the Holy Land, a shrine of pure white stone crowned with a dome of gold entombed the Bab’s sacred remains. Today amid resplendent terraced gardens the shrine is visited by pilgrims who come from every place on the planet to give homage to the Bab, to remember the beauty of His character and the splendor of His revelation.

As for the grand vizier who ordered the Bab’s execution? Find out what became of him in An Astonishing Turn of Events. For a more complete story of this episode and much more on the life of the Bab see Part 1- The Dawn in The Story of Baha’u’llah: Promised One of All Religions.

"Life at First Sight: Finding the Divine in the Details"

Author Phyllis Ring signs copies of her book Life at First Sight: Finding the Divine in the Details (pictured lower left) at this year’s BookExpo America (BEA) in the Jacob Javits Center, New York City. Each year BEA brings together publishers, booksellers, librarians, authors and everyone related to books for networking and learning. U.S. Baha’i Publishing is respected as a quality small publisher.


What I find irresistable about Phyllis Ring's collection of personal essays (previously published columns) in Life at First Sight is that each one is really a story, told in the warm and intimate voice of a good friend – the kind of easy companion you might invite for a walk or sit with over coffee. Yet the stories she shares about family, people she meets, or something further afield, have none of the flavor of the gossip so ubiquitous these days. Far from it.

These stories draw the reader along a different kind of path, where, with a practiced eye, Phyllis guides us to look through the mundane to find the unexpected beauty, the deeper meaning, that might have otherwise eluded us. And when you think you have come to the end of a particular story, she leads you one step further – which is one reason why these essays are not simply filed away in the mind, but become companions of the heart.

Phyllis Ring writes from a spiritual orientation that she conveys with a light touch. "First sight" is a term she uses for looking at life with spiritual eyes. In the book’s introduction Phyllis identifies three kinds of “sight” – physical, intellectual, and spiritual. “We acquire a more complete picture of human reality – body, mind, and soul,” writes Phyllis, “by gradually learning to use all three kinds of seeing to the best of our abilities and discovereng how they are designed to work together.”

“Like love at first sight, using our spiritual vision involves an immediate ‘recognition’ and irresistable attraction, a sense of something mysteriously familiar,” says Phyllis. “It is that feeling of coming into contact with what is of God. And how do we know, feel, and recognize what is of God?” she asks. “By coming into contact with the attributes of God – such divine qualities as kindness, courtesy, generosity, and courage.”

“The liberating light of these divine attributes, and the love they bring with them, can glimmer in all sorts of places and circumstances,” notes Phyllis. “Cultivating the ability and the desire to perceive these in the everyday may be one of the most life-sustaining and liberating things we’ll ever do.”

The joy for the reader is in looking through the eyes of an author who has cultivated this capacity, and whose telling of these jewel-like vignettes can make us smile or laugh or weep, and on occasion take our breath away to see how truly amazing the details of life can be.

Visit the Religion and Spirituality Forum (UPI) to read sample columns by Phyllis Ring.

Birthday Flowers, Birthday Reflections

What a delightful surprise to answer the door and be presented with this beautiful basket of birthday flowers! Other deights were a birthday-singing phone call from a friend and her daughters, a bundle of facebook greetings from well-wishing friends, and a singing Hoops & Yoyo card from my husband (love it!) – who was also game enough to let me sign us both up for a beginners kayaking session to come.

This is not just any birthday for me, but a decade-rounding birthday, which prompts more than a little reflection, and gratitude for a life enriched in so many ways by so many people, more than I can do justice to in this blog.

It is so often the little things that open a momentary door to those memories – like the taste of hot, sweet tea with milk that brings to mind days lived in Kenya, India, Nigeria.

Or the sound of Chinese music, sweeter to my ear now because of a Chinese friend.

Or the rich scent of certain flowers that recall Indian streets: with sidewalk vendors whose fragrant flowers lay in neat rows on cloth squares, and the women in brightly-colored saris walking in their graceful way, ankle jewelry jingling its gentle music, long black hair braided down the back and adorned with flowers wafting their perfume.

Or English spoken with an accent – so many different accents, or English that simply owns a different dialect in a different place – all of which can make me pause and remember life stories shared by ESL students I have taught, other friends I have known. Love the accents, love the people who belong to them; cherish the stories of their struggles.

Or the faint déjà vu evoked when meeting someone new who seems familiar, as though I must have met them before. This occurs so often that I decided, after a certain age, everyone does indeed look a little like someone I knew. After all, the human face, whatever its color and features, resembles other faces. Meet enough diverse people and the brain simply wants to connect the dots somehow. That’s my personal theory. Of course, asking someone about where we might have met can also lead to an interesting conversation.

Even an author’s voice from the pages of books are among my memories. So many insightful and wise words filling the pages of my reading life – from a range of nonfiction, biography, poetry, a smattering of fiction – like so many late-ngiht conversations about the world and the people who navigate it.

What I know today is that I am grateful for more than I can say, and that there is more, so very much more, still to learn. I can only hope, as the days and years blend one into the other, that I will be counted as a true friend along the way, and a voice of encouragement in the lives of other people.

"The Universe Within Us" - Interview with the Author

Jane E. Harper, author of The Universe Within Us: A Guide to the Purpose of Life, recently took the time to do an email interview with me. Her thoughtful answers about the behind-the-scenes process of writing her book makes it all the more interesting. (Read an excerpt from The Universe Within Us.)

Q. What prompted you to write the particular book you did? Did it start out as something else smaller or different?
A. My book started out as an essay I wrote for my Dad while he was in the last phases of cancer. I wanted to explain to him in a logical way how he could know for sure that life continued after death. It was written quickly, and while it made sense to me, I felt the need to explore the sciences and religions and see how and where these two fields of knowledge clashed or agreed. As time went by it went from essay to outline to book, although as it evolved it fell apart several times. As a "book" it went through three radical transformations before being sent to the Baha’i Publishing Trust for review.

Q. What were one or two major hurdles you had to overcome?
A. The biggest hurdle was the sheer scope of the topic. I was trying to take something huge—the purpose of life and the existence of a world beyond this one—which required delving into many spheres of knowledge, both scientific and religious—and create an overview. It was difficult to know what to cover and what to leave alone. I couldn't actually talk about "everything" even though I was trying to explain how everything fit together.

The other hurdle I had to overcome was my tendency to look at the world as a collection of objects, and at life as a span of time during which events happen. Once I began looking at the world as "processes" and life as a process during which our potential develops, everything became clear and began to fit together.

Q. Where did you get your support? your best support ?
A. My best support was from my good friend, Sherry. . .Even when I doubted the value of it myself (which was often) she would always tell me, "This is important." My sister, Anne, was also a great support, as she is someone I can talk over all kinds of ideas with.

Different phases of the writing require different types of support. The feedback by my editors during the revision phase was invaluable, and helped me tighten and clarify my writing. And in more practical terms, my husband kept me fed during the final phases when all my energies were focused on meeting deadlines. My managers at work also graciously let me come into work late during that time, which allowed me to work on revisions in the morning, my best time for writing.

Q. What did the Writer Workshop at Green Acre contribute to your process?
A. I was able to talk to (Editor) Terry Cassiday about my book, so connecting with her exactly when I needed to was invaluable. I also learned the importance of illustrating the points of my book with personal narratives, in order to to avoid dry nonfiction. It is also wonderful to have the opportunity to meet with other writers. Writing is a solitary endeavor, and it was great to realize I belong to a community of writers.

Q. What makes this work gratifying for you to have written and published?
A. I think the purpose of life is the most important topic for a human being to investigate, as our actions are determined by our beliefs about our place and purpose in the universe. I hope my book can bring comfort and hope, as well as change people's behavior positively as they come to understand life as an opportunity to prepare for the next world.

Q. What is one bit of wisdom /encouragement you would share with other aspiring writers?
A. If you have an idea, just begin. Write. Work on it now. Don't wait until you have time. If I had waited until I had time, 20 years would have passed and I would still be waiting to have time. Get up a half hour early: that's 30 minutes for writing. All those 30 minutes eventually add up to hours.

"The Universe Within Us"

Author Jane E. Harper is another freshly-published writer from our workshop with her intriguing book The Universe Within Us from the U.S. Baha'i Publishing Trust. A broad description of the book falls short in conveying Jane’s appealing voice and style, so this post shares an excerpt to give readers a taste of the book’s flavor. My next blog post will be an interview with Jane.

First, a brief description drawn from the book jacket: In her book The Universe Within Us: A Guide to the Purpose of Life Jane has drawn on the sciences, the world’s sacred scriptures, and personal experience in “a provocative look at the purpose of life.” Questions about our purpose have long been “the domain of priests and clergy, and, more recently, scientists,” yet their answers are often “less than satisfying,” either to intellect or to heart and soul. Author Jane Harper “offers a unique map of the universe, and an explanation of life’s purpose that is truly satisfying.”

Now a selection from her opening chapter (elipses for text left out):
“’There’s the Big Dipper,’ says my dad. He is looking up, his arm outstretched, pointing into the night sky. . . .
“I didn’t know it then, but when I followed his gaze toward the Big Dipper, I was gazing out to infinity. Some people naturally look up. They are the wonderers. My dad was a wonderer. and when he pointed upward, out into infinity, it felt like a natural direction for me, the way my head was supposed to tilt. . . .
“I was also a big rock collector in my childhood. (So, yes, I could look down as well.) . . . I lived in a valley that had once been a glacial lake, a fact that sparked my imagination. Before that the valley had been covered by an immense ice sheet. Before that, unfamiliar animals had roamed. . . . Before that. . . .

‘Somehow, looking backwards was easier than looking forwards. At least when I was going backwards, I had something to look at. But I knew that infinity worked in both directions. . . .

‘These are only two aspects of my attempts to map the universe I had found myself in and turn it into something I could understand. We all do this to some degree. We try to map out the world and create models that tell a person, “You are here.” A good model tells us where we came from, where we are headed, and – most importantly – what the whole point is, anyway.

‘But infinity is a big place. There’s lots of room for variety. Models and maps inevitably differ from one culture to another, and every person’s model will be unique, at least in its details. In truth, it’s not actually possible to contain infinity in a model any more than it’s possible to contain a country in a map. Our maps and models are only representative, something people put together to help them navigate. . . .
‘The drive behind all this mapmaking and model-building, though, should be the hunger to know the difference between what is imagined to be real and what is actually real. Not the hunger to be sure . . . but the hunger to constantly push back that reef of ignorance that separates us from the ocean of knowledge. In this condition, it doesn’t matter what culture a person is born in or how a person is raised. Wonder, openness, and opportunity can lead anyone ever closer to the truth. And in this condition, the map changes as the mapmaker changes.
‘But it has to start somewhere. . . .”

Look for my interview with Jane Harper in the next blog post.

"Take My Love to the Friends"

Author Marlene Macke with her book Take My Love to the Friends: The Story of Laura R. Davis

It is a pleasure to invite writers out of their solitary work to come together for a workshop, a continuing pleasure to see those writers progress -- and a celebration when one of them achieves publication! This month I have the privilege to introduce, in my next three posts, three workshop writers who are now published authors. Check out these new voices in the book world.

My first introduction is for Canadian author Marlene Macke, who traveled to Maine to attend our 2006 writer workshop held at Green Acre Baha'i School. Marlene is a Baha’i and was writing her first biography about Canadian Baha’i Laura Rumney Davis. The book is titled Take My Love to the Friends, and it seems that our writer workshop played a welcome role in the writing of it.

First a note on the biography. Marlene describes Laura Davis as “the most delightful person -- intrepid and adventurous, humorous, and life loving.” Laura (1895-1990) played a significant role in the development of the Baha’i Faith in Canada, which included her election to the first National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Canada, all of which led Marlene to write about this outstanding and accomplished woman.

In the midst of writing her book, Marlene came to our workshop – and made one of those great networking connections that writers love. In Marlene’s words: “New Yorker Marcia Owen surprised both herself and me when she said she had known Laura Davis very well. Marcia had lived in Toronto for a time in the 1970s. Marcia . . . emailed me with several stories about Laura, and most of them ended up in the book.” Marlene also discovered more useful details from another workshop participant.

Knowledge – Endeavor – Network: all necessary ingredients in the systematic development of a writer's brain. That was the message in our workshop, and what a gratifying example of networking at work!

Marlene goes on to say, “I am also grateful to the workshop itself as it confirmed and validated what we writers and poets were doing, in such a supportive and loving atmosphere. . . This book took me ten years from start to finish. After several years of on-again, off-again work, I decided to become more purposeful and get the book written. I'm now committed to a disciplined approach in my writing.” Marlene is hard at work on her next biography.

“Now that the book is published,” says Marlene, “I am most gratified by the response from the readers who knew Laura Davis and many of the other friends who are featured in the book. We Baha'is thirst for our own stories and thrill to see our more contemporary history in print.” For more book details see Take My Love to the Friends: the Story of Laura R. Davis.

"Validation" - a surprising little film

Validation is described as "a fable about the magic of free parking." This multi-award-winning short film is magical in the connection it makes, from the first surprising and delightful bit of dialogue through the unexpected twists and turns of plot. A lot is packed into this short film. Parking is just a stepping-off place. The biggest surprise is how far it takes you and how flawless - and enjoyable - is the journey.

Validation is now on my list of all-time favorite films of any length. It creates the kind of connection that lingers, invites reflection and hungers for conversation. It makes me remember why art is as necessary to the life of the spirit as breathing is to life. My thanks to the friend on facebook who brought this gem to my attention.

So set aside a little time to view this award-winning little film - maybe as dessert for your lunch break? with a few friends? I promise you won't be sorry. I don't make that kind of promise lightly. And I would love to hear what resonates with you.

Guest Blogger: A Poet on "where the rubber of reality hits the road"

Poet Rhonda Palmer

Since April is poetry month I invited friend Rhonda Palmer – also one of my favorite poets – to share a few words about poetry as a guest blogger. My thanks to Rhonda for her thougtful words in today’s post. To sample Rhonda’s poetry see In the Days after the Earthquake in Camroc Press Review and The Lessons of War in Holly Rose Review. Now, here is Rhonda in her own words:

“Today the true journey takes us to some deep place in ourselves where we can finally see out into the universe, and beyond. “Universe within a universe. I look out, and see in.” Or, we look in and see out. Poetry is a way to try talking about this process of seeing everything twice, and those of us who love reading it and try writing it would admit that it’s a pleasant occupation and confusing. We find ourselves where the rubber of reality hits the road; the place where air, fuel and oxygen meet.

The impact of life happening through us gives weight to poetry, but if we merely make it about our experiences then we have weakened the moment---lost the truth. When we open ourselves softly and invisibly to the moment, and breathe silently or with ragged gasping through the bloody birth of the poem, then we manifest the attribute of creation as a human can know it. This generative, germinal event has so little to do with the events of our lives, and yet these events can be doorways for the reality.

James Joyce wrote, "Every life is many days, day after day. We walk through ourselves, meeting robbers, ghosts, giants, old men, young men, wives, widows, brothers-in-love, but always meeting ourselves."

Poetry is using the things that happen to us (this universe, this experience) to teach ourselves that it is NEVER about us. It's like prayer, that way. And poetry only reaches others when they look at the words and know they come from a deep well into which their own heart dips a bucket.

We change when we write poetry. We see bigger, smaller, more intensely. Maybe we become more like our selves. We write because we need to, and we would write even if it were on water, with letters of light.”

"to abolish all disputes, war, and bloodshed from the face of the earth"

Window of Baha'u'llah's room at Bahji. Reprinted with permision of the Baha'i International Community.

“Even as I join Baha’is around the globe to celebrate the Festival of Ridvan, the holiest period among Baha'i holy days, I take pause to wonder why Baha’u’llah chose Baghdad in which to make His greatest announcement.

Baghdad was for Baha’u’llah a place of exile and hardship. But it was also in Baghdad that Baha’u’llah began to reveal the Word of God, which He called “the master key for the whole world,” for with this key, He wrote, "the door of the hearts of men, which in reality are the doors of heaven, are unlocked.”

You can find the story of the first Ridvan, when Baha’u’llah prepared to leave Baghdad, in my blog post Ridvan: The Divine Springtime; it continues in On the Banks of the Tigris, Part two, which opens Baha’u’llah’s unique vision of the religions we thought we knew. Here the conclusion casts an eye to the future of humankind (with a video glimpse of a beginning):

“It is Our purpose,” Baha’u’llah wrote, “through the loving providence of God . . . to abolish . . . all disputes, war, and bloodshed, from the face of the earth.” It was not an empty promise. In over one hundred volumes Baha’u’llah provided the tools to do the work, and called on the world’s peoples (video) and their nations to take the future in their hands. Already Baha’is who come from peoples at war are learning how to create communities of peace.

Baha’u’llah made it clear that there can be no peace without unity, no paradise without justice. “The well-being of mankind, its peace and security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established,” He wrote and stated, “The light of men is Justice . . . The purpose of justice is the appearance of unity among men.”
“No radiance can compare with that of justice,” Baha’u’llah declared. “The organization of the world and the tranquility of mankind depend upon it.”

Our noble task is to transform our societies and ourselves, and lest we be discouraged, Baha’u’llah assures us that we will meet the challenge. “Yet so it shall be; these fruitless strifes, these ruinous wars shall pass away,” He promised, “and the ‘Most Great Peace’ shall come."

This is not a vision supplied by the nightly news, but by the newest Messenger of God."

For complete essay go to The Story of Baha’u’llah: Promised One of All Religions and scroll down to pdf file On the Banks of the Tigris.

On the Banks of the Tigris: Part two

A terrace fountain at the Baha'i World Center. Used with permision of Baha'i International Community.

The story of the first Ridvan begins in my last post: Ridvan: The Divine Springtime. Here the essay continues, with particular focus on the unique vision of the world’s religions brought by Baha’u’llah. I also invite you to view an engaging short video set in India entitled One Common Faith which higlights religious diversity and the wisdom of diverse religious leaders on this topic.

On the Banks of the Tigris, part two:
“Baha'u'llah linked His greatest Announcement to a law. He forbade the use of force in spreading the Word of God. The mightiest sword is the tongue, He said, for speech can remove the veils of ignorance from the human heart.

Every one of the five million Baha'is in today's world, who come from the peoples of every land, also honor this truth laid out by Baha’u’llah: The religions called by different names are, in reality, one religion unfolding over time, their separate Prophets inspired by one Source, their sacred guidance flowing together into one divine purpose – the upliftment of the human spirit and the evolution of human consciousness.

“Human tongue can never befittingly sing their praise,” Baha'u'llah wrote of those Divine Educators, “and human speech can never unfold their mystery.” It was in Baghdad that He first opened up, in His Book of Certitude, this profound shift of perspective on the religions we thought we knew.

Still, we are jaded by what we see in the name of religion, and it is hard to believe that Baghdad was called “the Abode of Peace” by its founder or “the City of God” by Baha’u’llah. That Baghdad, and the world, is so far removed from this reality reflects not the inadequacy of the Divine, but the slowness of humanity to pay attention.

“For were men to abide by and observe the divine teachings,” wrote Baha’u’llah, “every trace of evil would be banished from the face of the earth.”

To turn away from the light of divine guidance, however, is to be filled with darkness. The hearts that are portals to heaven can become the pathway to hell, for the Evil One is not an outside enemy, said Baha’u’llah, but the unbridled lower nature within us.

“The actions of man himself breed a profusion of satanic power . . . The prevalence of sedition, contention, conflict and the like . . . provoke the appearance of the satanic spirit,” wrote Baha’u’llah. “Yet the Holy Spirit hath ever shunned such matters.”

Read the conclusion of On the Banks of the Tigris in my next post. I also recommend Religion, the modern age, and the coming global society, a short essay by Brad Pokorny and this very interesting message from the Universal House of Justice: To the World’s Religious Leaders, which was presented to a number of religious leaders.