Monthly Archives: August 2018

Building a New Civilization, Community Building Activites, Neighbourhood Devotional Gatherings, Neighbourhood Junior Youth Groups, Teaching of Bahá’u’lláh, Uncategorized

Public Session on: Transformative power of the Bahá’í Faith—“A Widening Embrace” Sept 16, 2018

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Across the globe, followers of Bahá’u’lláh and their friends are striving in earnest to contribute to the well-being of their communities and the advancement of society. A Widening Embrace captures some experiences and insights from a selection of neighbourhoods and villages, in rural and urban settings. Here, a process of building vibrant communities is unfolding through individual and collective action propelled by a commitment to learning, in the words of Bahá’u’lláh, how to “translate that which hath been written into reality and action.”

This public session will focus on the process of building vibrant communities in every neighbourhood. We will also watch together a short segment of the new documentary called “A Widening Embrace”

— An innovative new documentary film about the community-building efforts of the Baha’i world, as seen through the eyes of local populations, was released today on Bahai.org.
A Widening Embrace has been produced through a creative, grassroots process in which teams of often young people have documented the efforts of their own communities around the world to effect social change.

Drawing on footage taken by those teams over the course of a year, the film tells a story of transformation unfolding in 24 communities representing different realities and contexts. It focuses on three main themes: universal participation as a path toward collective prosperity, the vital role of young people in the transformation of society, and the emergence of a range of social and economic development initiatives that spring up from the spiritual aspirations of a population.

 

While one outcome of the film project is the documentary itself, another important dimension is the capacity that has developed in numerous local populations to document and describe what their communities are doing and learning in the context of social progress.

The event is open to all and everyone is welcome.

We are looking forward to seeing you on Sunday Sept 16, 2018.

Invitation Public event Sept 18 2018

(Some material taken from news.bahai.org)

Building a New Civilization, Historical Facts about Bahá'u'lláh, Neighbourhood Devotional Gatherings, Teaching of Bahá’u’lláh, Uncategorized

Public Session on: Spiritual but not Religious—Are We Missing the Plot? Aug 18, 2018

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The phrase “spiritual but not religious” has become a cliché, but it describes a deeply serious concern – that adopting and practicing a religion actually risks making you less spiritual.
Multiple surveys have shown that a significant portion of Americans – somewhere between one-tenth to almost a third of the adult population – describe themselves as spiritual but not religious (SBNR). In one survey, 72% of young, Generation Y Americans identified as SBNRs. This growing group, known as the unchurched or just as spiritual seekers, generally believes in a Creator but views God differently than the fundamentalist religious factions. They tend to think of the old forms of religion as bound by dogma, doctrine and ritual, instead of encouraging the deep feelings, powerful insights and connection with the mystical that our minds, hearts and souls yearn to make.

The Baha’i teachings powerfully support this contemporary view, saying that the core of religious faith is the mystic feeling that unites man with God – simply renewed to address the needs of each age in which it exists. All religions, Baha’is believe, is a single system of progressively-revealed faiths, and the Prophets and Messengers who established those faiths teach the same essential truths. That one mystic faith, the Baha’is believe, is renewed throughout history:

In the beginning the tree was in all its beauty, and full of blossoms and fruits, but at last it became old and entirely fruitless, and it withered and decayed. This is why the True Gardener plants again an incomparable young tree of the same kind and species, which grows and develops day by day, and spreads a wide shadow in the divine garden, and yields admirable fruit. So it is with religions; through the passing of time they change from their original foundation, the truth of the Religion of God entirely departs, and the spirit of it does not stay; heresies appear, and it becomes a body without a soul. That is why it is renewed. – Abdu’l-Baha, Some Answered Questions

A modern belief system that emphasizes unity, fellowship and harmonious interaction with everyone, the Baha’i Faith teaches the deep spiritual inter-connectedness of humanity and the essential oneness of all religions. Baha’is believe that the teachings of Baha’u’llah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith, comprise that modern renewal of religion.

If you think of yourself as spiritual more than religious, you may want to investigate the Baha’i Faith and its teachings further. Increasingly, spiritually-minded people are becoming Baha’is and taking part in the warm, diverse community life the Baha’is are building. Baha’is don’t proselytize or force their beliefs on others, and there is no Baha’i clergy, which means you can conduct your own independent investigation, and come to your own conclusions. The Baha’i teachings and writings are universally available online, in print and in just about every language. They offer an expansive, joyful and beautifully spiritual path to a unified global community and a profoundly positive, progressive message of love, unity and peace.

The event is open to all and everyone is welcome.

 

We are looking forward to seeing you on Saturday Aug 18.

Invitation Public event Aug 18 2018

(material from BahaiTeachings.org)