Response to the Call of Bahá’u’lláh
“What are the requirements? Love for mankind, sincerity toward all, reflecting the oneness of the world of humanity, philanthropy, becoming enkindled with the fire of the love of God, attainment to the knowledge of God and that which is conducive to human welfare.”
— ‘Abdu’l-Bahá
A pivotal concept in the Bahá’í teachings is that the refinement of one’s inner character and service to humanity are inseparable facets of life. Shoghi Effendi, in a letter written on his behalf, states:
We cannot segregate the human heart from the environment outside us and say that once one of these is reformed everything will be improved. Man is organic with the world. His inner life moulds the environment and is itself also deeply affected by it. The one acts upon the other and every abiding change in the life of man is the result of these mutual reactions.
In light of this, Bahá’ís have come to appreciate the operation of a two-fold purpose that is fundamental to their lives: to attend to their own spiritual and intellectual growth and to contribute to the transformation of society.
This two-fold purpose helps to shape the endeavours of Bahá’ís in all areas. Thus, for example, they are not only expected to pray and reflect daily in their personal lives, but also to make efforts to infuse their surroundings with a devotional spirit; they are asked, not only to deepen their own knowledge of the Faith, but also to share with others Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings; they are not only admonished to learn to resist the dictates of the ego in their own lives, but also to strive, with courage and humility, to reverse the tendencies of a culture that glorifies self-gratification and erodes the foundations of solidarity.
Walking a Spiritual Path
The Bahá’í teachings emphasize that each person is in charge of his or her own spiritual development. While institutions exist to guide and release energies, and Bahá’í community life is to be characterized by an atmosphere of cordial consultation and encouragement, the responsibility for spiritual growth ultimately rests with each individual. Indeed, there is no clergy in the Bahá’í Faith; the Bahá’í community can neither be described in terms of a pastor and congregation, nor as that of a body of believers led by learned individuals endowed with authority to interpret scriptures.
“Let each morn be better than its eve and each morrow richer than its yesterday.”
— Bahá’u’lláh
The dynamics of walking a spiritual path is a theme that Bahá’ís, both individually and collectively, are constantly exploring in their activities and consultations. Certain aspects are clear: that simply focusing on oneself proves counter-productive; that the path is to be walked in the company of others—each giving and receiving love, assistance and encouragement; that the tendency to allow self-righteousness to take hold needs to be conscientiously resisted; and that humility is a requisite of progress.
No soul walking this spiritual path may make a claim to perfection. Yet, the kind of relativism that condemns adherence to clearly stated ideals and principles finds no place. Each Bahá’í is asked to make daily effort to progressively reflect in his or her conduct the standards described by Bahá’u’lláh, no matter how difficult to attain they may seem.
A much more thorough explanation of Bahá’í belief on this subject, including articles and topic collections on the human soul, prayer, meditation, and the development of spiritual qualities, can be found in the section titled “The Life of the Spirit” within the “What Bahá’ís Believe” area of this website.
The Development of a Worldwide Community
Building the global civilization envisaged by Bahá’u’lláh cannot be accomplished through the scattered efforts of individuals, no matter how devoted and well-meaning they may be. A community, unified in thought and action, has to come into being, grow, and move from strength to strength.
Each Bahá’í sees him or herself at once as a member of a local, national, and global community of adherents. Every effort is made to ensure that, at each of these levels, communities remain vibrant and open to all people; great care is taken to avoid the pitfalls of exclusivity. ‘Abdu’l-Bahá counsels us: “See ye no strangers; rather see all men as friends, for love and unity come hard when ye fix your gaze on otherness. … For each of the creatures is a sign of God, and it was by the grace of the Lord and His power that each did step into the world; therefore they are not strangers, but in the family; not aliens, but friends, and to be treated as such.”
The Bahá’í community came into existence gradually—from the handful who first heard the message of The Báb, to the enthusiastic band of followers of Bahá’u’lláh in cities and villages throughout nineteenth century Persia, to a global community of millions today, with members in more than 100,000 localities in virtually every country and territory around the world.
You can read more about the Bahá’í approach to community and community-building, on the open nature of Bahá’í community life, and on the relationships that Bahá’ís strive to forge between individuals, communities, and institutions, in the article titled “Community”, which is found within the “What Bahá’ís Believe” area of this website.
The Training Institute
To build a better world requires an ever-growing pool of people capable of contributing to the accomplishment of the myriad tasks at hand.
In this connection, the concept of the “training institute” was introduced by the Universal House of Justice in the mid-1990s. Its purpose is to assist individuals to deepen their understanding of the Bahá’í teachings, and to gain the spiritual insights and practical skills they need to carry out the work of the community.
The nature of the training institute can be understood by imagining an ongoing conversation taking place among friends in thousands upon thousands of social spaces—neighbourhoods, villages, schools, universities, and workplaces—concerned with contributing to the advancement of civilization through the application of Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings. As the number of participants in the conversation grows, processes to achieve collective spiritual and material goals in each space are set in motion.
We may think of the work of the training institute, then, as maintaining a system of distance education to fuel and facilitate this evolving conversation. The principal elements of the system include the “study circle”, the tutor, and a set of materials, grounded in the Bahá’í writings, that express the spiritual insights and the knowledge gained in the process of translating Bahá’u’lláh’s teachings into reality. The materials help the individual enter into the discussion of what the Bahá’í community has learned through experience as it has tried to contribute to the advancement of civilization. More crucially, they seek to involve him or her in this process of learning and in the diffusion of relevant knowledge.
A study circle is a small group that meets at least once or twice a week for a few hours, usually in the home of one of its members, to study the course materials. Anyone aged fifteen or older, whether a Bahá’í or not, is welcome to take part. The group is brought together by a tutor associated with the training institute. Tutors do not hold any special status. They are simply those who are further along in their study of the materials. Everyone can potentially serve as a tutor on some occasions, while taking part as a member of a study circle on others. All those participating are seen as active agents of their own learning, and tutors strive to create an atmosphere that encourages individuals to assume ownership for the educational process in which they are engaged. A study circle should be a space that leads to the spiritual and moral empowerment of individuals.
The materials include passages from the Bahá’í writings related to specific themes and acts of service. Together participants think about the application of these passages to their individual and collectives lives. Among the questions they explore are how to create environments that put people in contact with the spiritual forces released through prayer and devotion; how to strengthen bonds of friendship and establish meaningful patterns of communication among people of various backgrounds; how to make the education of children an integral part of their community life; how to maintain an environment that helps young people develop their intellectual and spiritual capacities; how to generate dynamics within the family unit that give rise to material and spiritual prosperity.
In response to the materials they study and with support from their institutions, participants arise to carry out specific acts of service. Men and women, young and old alike, come to recognize that they have the power in their hands to re-create the world around them. As more and more people become committed to the vision of individual and collective transformation fostered by the institute courses, capacity is gradually built in the community to reflect a pattern of life that places at its heart service and worship.
Devotional Meetings
Devotional meetings spring up naturally in a community where a conversation about the spiritual dimension of human existence is growing. In diverse settings, Bahá’ís and their friends and families unite with one another in prayer. There are no rituals; no one individual has any special role. Meetings consist largely of reading prayers and passages from the Bahá’í sacred texts in an informal yet respectful atmosphere. A spirit of communal worship is generated by these simple gatherings, and this spirit begins to permeate the community’s collective endeavours.
Today thousands upon thousands of such regular devotional meetings are held in localities throughout the world—in urban and suburban neighbourhoods, in hamlets and villages alike.
A more thorough exploration of the Bahá’í teachings on the subject of devotional life, including quotations from the Bahá’í writings on the topic, can be found in the Devotion topic collection within the What Bahá’ís Believe area of the website.
Children’s Classes
Bahá’ís see the young as the most precious treasure a community can possess. In them are the promise and guarantee of the future. Yet, in order for this promise to be realised, children need to receive spiritual nourishment. In a world where the joy and innocence of childhood can be so easily overwhelmed by the aggressive pursuit of materialistic ends, the moral and spiritual education of children assumes vital importance.
The Bahá’í community at every level is highly sensitised to the need to respond to the spiritual aspirations of the young, and older youth are typically anxious to take responsibility for the development of those around them younger than themselves. Educational activities for children, then, are often among the first to multiply in a community.
“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
In recent years, training institutes around the world have been playing an increasingly important part in the training of teachers to conduct classes for the spiritual education of children. The materials being developed for use by the institutes emphasise the acquisition of spiritual qualities—for example, truthfulness, generosity, purity of heart, and kindness, to name a few—which are considered attributes of God that are reflected in the mirror of the human heart. Year after year, the materials build on the understanding of these qualities and add lessons related to the history and the Writings of the Bahá’í Faith. The goal is for the children to reach a stage in which they can understand and act upon the imperative to tend to their own spiritual development and contribute to the well-being of society.
The institutions of the Faith also pay a great deal of attention to the question of raising human resources to conduct children’s classes. In this regard, they dedicate significant resources to bringing into being and maintaining an effective system of coordination for the training of teachers, opening channels for the flow of guidance, educational materials, and learning to and from the grassroots.
Social Action
Bahá’í efforts of social action seek to promote the social and material well-being of people of all walks of life, whatever their beliefs or background. Such efforts are motivated by the desire to serve humanity and contribute to constructive social change. Together they represent a growing process of learning concerned with the application of the teachings of Bahá’u’lláh, along with knowledge accumulated in different fields of human endeavour, to social reality.
Issues of social and economic development can be complex, and the efforts of Bahá’ís to engage in social action are, by comparison, modest. They are usually carried out by small groups of individuals in a locality where the courses of the training institute are being widely offered.
Efforts emerge out of growing collective consciousness. Most are projects of a fixed duration.
They come to a close when their objectives have been met. They may be related to any one of a variety of fields, for example, health, sanitation, education, agriculture or environmental protection. Whatever their nature, they aim at improving some aspect of the life of the local population. In a few cases, those engaged in grassroots social action are able to extend the range of their activities in an organic fashion, and their efforts evolve into projects of a more sustained nature, with administrative structure.
In such cases, a non-profit, non-governmental organization may be established by a group of Bahá’ís, often with like-minded colleagues, to address one or another issue of social and economic development. Operating on the principles of the Bahá’í Faith, it is generally called a “Bahá’í-inspired organization”. It provides institutional capacity in a country or region to deal with the generation, application and diffusion of knowledge about development. Typically, such an organization will begin with one primary line of action and will allow its efforts to increase in complexity over time.
For communities in most regions, one of the first concerns is to ensure that their children and youth have access to a sound academic education. Currently, there are a few Bahá’í-inspired organizations that have devised well-defined programmes, particularly in the field of education, and members of local communities all over the world can, with ongoing training in the use of materials, adopt their methods and approaches. Many capable young men and women, who might otherwise be forced to leave their villages and neighbourhoods in search of employment, benefit in particular. To the capacity they have developed through the study of institute courses are added new knowledge and skills. And they become the catalysts for further progress: capacity rises within the community, if only moderately, to take collective action in fields such as education, health and food production and to resist the influence of destructive forces tearing at the social fabric.
In this environment, the local governing council or Local Spiritual Assembly serves as the voice of moral authority. It interacts with social and political structures in the locality, consulting with them about the work Bahá’ís are doing for the progress of the village or neighbourhood. It also makes certain that, as small groups strive to improve local conditions, the integrity of their endeavours is not compromised. Overly ambitious projects that would consume energies and ultimately arrest progress are avoided. Efforts grow in keeping with the capacity of the local population to carry them forward. Sustainability is a natural consequence of the process itself.
For Bahá’ís, social action is pursued with the conviction that every population should be able to trace the path of its own progress. Social change is not a project that one group of people carries out for the benefit of another.