Via Ram Dass

May 22, 2016

There is not an experience that goes down in your life that doesn’t have the potential to help liberate you. It is so perfectly designed and there is not irrelevancy in the system. When you finally want to get free, everything, every single thing in your life is grist for the mill.

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 22/05/2016

“Tenho dito que, na universidade dos relacionamentos, existe uma prova final que possibilita você concluir o curso. Não passando nessa prova, você não recebe o diploma. E a prova é: deixar o outro livre, inclusive para não te amar, se ele não puder ou não quiser. Deixar o outro livre significa manter o coração aberto para ele. Você continua junto, amando, mesmo que fisicamente não seja possível estar junto porque o outro não quer. Você não cai na armadilha de se ofender e se vingar. E você se vinga fechando o coração, retirando o amor, esfriando, se tornando indiferente.” 

“He dicho que, en la universidad de las relaciones, existe una prueba final que posibilita concluir el curso. No pasando esa prueba, no recibes el diploma. Y la prueba es: dejar al otro libre, inclusive para no amarte, si él no puede o no quiere. Dejar al otro libre significa mantener el corazón abierto para él. Siguescerca, amando, aunque físicamente no sea posible estar cerca porque el otro no quiere. No caes en la trampa de ofenderte o vengarte. Y te vengas cerrando el corazón, retirando el amor, enfriando, tornándote indiferente.”

“In the University of Relationships, there is a final exam we must take that enables us to graduate. If we don’t pass it, we won’t receive our diploma. Our final test is whether or not we are able to let the other be free, including not to love us. The other may not love us or feel incapable of loving us, and letting them be free means keeping our hearts open to them. We continue loving them even if it is not physically possible to be together because the other doesn’t want to be. We don’t fall into the trap of getting offended or acting out of revenge. This act of revenge involves closing our hearts, retracting our love, or becoming cold and indifferent to the other.”

Via Daily Dharma / May 22, 2016: The Moment Is Now

Now is the time to free ourselves from samsara. Unless we do it in this lifetime, it is not going to happen all by itself. We have to take care of ourselves.

—Tulku Urgyen Rinpoche, "Taking Your Future Into Your Own Hands"

Via LGBT INCLUSIVE / FB:

Via LGBT INCLUSIVE / FB: True love, acceptance and Equality.

 

Via Grants Pass Daily Courier: FIRED UP: GP Grad carries the Olympic Torch in Brazil

http://www.thedailycourier.com/

Via Justa a Baha'i: Should I still call myself a Bahai?

May 21, 2016 
 
“I am a 2nd generation Baha’i who is also gay. For the last 21 years, I have been happily “married” to the most loving and amazing man in the world – easily and without question my Soulmate. During this time, and for a number of years prior, I have been inactive in the Faith. I still consider myself a Baha’i – but I find it increasingly difficult to abide by the current stance of the Faith toward gays. (I am not “sick,” “unnatural,” or “handicapped.” I was made this way. And our Creator does not make an imperfect creation. I am perfect just the way I am. But enough on the truth it’s taken me my lifetime so far to realize.)

On to my question…

Is there any reason for me to continue to have any affiliation with a faith that questions my inherent and God-given perfection? Is it finally time for me to just throw in the towel with the Baha’i Faith as an organization and seek spirituality and nearness to my Creator on my own (something I’ve been doing for the past 25+ years anyway)?

To be completely honest, given the Faiths stance toward gays, I’m ashamed to tell people I’m a Baha’i. I feel much more love, acceptance, support, peace, unity- and even spirituality! – within the Buddhist community. What has happened to the Baha’i Faith? Has it already failed less than 200 years later?

I see that I have asked more than one question. I suppose I’ve always believed that the only bad question is the one not asked. Reading over what I’ve just written, some of you may get the impression that I’m angry. I’m not. Just frustrated – and wanting to know your thoughts.”

A: Only you can decide if the Baha’i Faith is still right for you. I have chosen to go it alone. I can not be part of a religion that doesn’t fully accept us and I don’t see any chance of them accepting us in the future. 

B: It is the question that I have been struggling with for over 30 years since my administrative rights were removed. It helps to voice the question, and the frustration. I can see a time when I will be able to completely disassociate myself from the Faith, but that moment hasn’t arrived. I keep hoping that there will be a positive change toward embracing all. It defies reason that it hasn’t happened yet, but I keep hoping.

C: I have similar questions, myself. I usually tell people I’m an ex-Bahá’í, even though I haven’t removed myself from the Faith, only stepped back for 10 or 11 years. I still have some lingering hope somewhere that if enough voices within the Bahai community speak up for LGBT+ acceptance (not this strange sort of tolerance where we’re seen as having an affliction to be cured), then the Faith will move forward. I’m a 3rd generation Bahai and I’m trans and mga (multiple gender attracted), and I’ve been in a same-gender relationship with my partner since 2007.

D: I’m a transwoman – I was in the Faith for 32 years but finally had to leave because it wasn’t working for me on a number of levels. But I think the big one was that it did not give me a way to understand myself that I could accept or live with. And by that meaning that God had made me a man outwardly and inwardly given me the heart and soul of a woman. When I left to find something else – I wasn’t sure what – it was the beginning of a huge awakening still going on today. And one of the first things I learned was that God loved and accepted me far more than I had ever realized before. But I guess I haven’t entirely cast the Faith aside, as I am here reading what others say and making comments.

E: It all depends on if you believe Bahaullah is who he said he is. If so you are a Bahai whether you have rights or not. If you believe that in the big picture the Bahai model is best for the future then support the faith. I disagree with the UHJ not doing their job in modifying the social teachings for the current age. I believe that the continuance of the covenant through the UHJ was to provide a body to bring the faith through 1000 years, updating the social principles of the faith as humanity matures. They seem reluctant to do that. I believe that our spiritual journey is our own and we are responsible to listen to others then prayerfully make our own conclusions.

F: I agree with the Faiths basic belief that we as individuals are responsible for our own spiritual health and growth (hence, no clergy – which I couldn’t agree with more). But I never thought that would include rejecting the “clergy” of the UHJ. (I suppose they are just fallible men and women, after all, but…) I’m all for self discovery, exploration, and personal truth seeking, … but I never thought as a gay man that I’d have to “boldly go where no one has gone before” (to coin a phrase) with my own faith! The prospects are both lonely and scary. And exciting.

G: Gandhi was excommunicated by the Hindu religious authorities for travelling overseas. His friends and family would have been excommunicated as well if they saw him off at the wharf. These days, however, nobody thinks of him as a bad Hindu. I’m hoping the conditions Bahais face within their religion are also temporary, but I won’t hold my breath. I don’t regret my time as an active and involved member of the Bahai community, but I vastly prefer being unaffiliated.

Unaffiliating, whether you remain a believer or not, is enormously disruptive in the short term. But it may be better in the long-term. In the short-term, you're closing a door, but in the long-term, it may well re-open. For example, the 25-year Ruhi program has only five more years to run. Only the individual can decide what to do — but I think it's important to think both short and long-term when making the decision.

Read the original and more here

Love is the New Religion (The Spiritual Conspiracy) -Brian Piergrossi

Spiritual Conspiracy via FB:

News of violence and dark times abound.Yet at the same time,something quiet is happening unnoticed by the media: A silent, inner revolution — inside out, grassroots. It is a global operation, a spiritual conspiracy, with sleeper cells in every nation. We "conspirators" don't seek glory or control or personal gain. We come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles; most of us work behind the scenes in cities large and small, mountains and valleys, in farms and villages, tribes and remote islands. One may pass by any of us on the street and not even notice.

We do not seek to stand out, It is of no concern to us who takes the final credit but simply that the work gets done. Occasionally we spot each other in the street and give a quiet nod then continue on our way. Many of us have normal jobs, but the real work takes a place in our kind words and deeds.

Little things that make a big difference.With the power of our minds and hearts, we're patiently contributing to an awakening world. Some call us the Conscious Army; we follow our orders come from Central Spiritual Intelligence. We drop secret love bombs: Poems, hugs, music, photos, movies, smiles,meditation and prayer, dance, social activism, websites,blogs, random acts of kindness...

We express ourselves in our own unique ways, with our own gifts and talents. "Be the change you want to see in the world" is the motto that fills our hearts. We teach by example, knowing it is the only way that real transformation takes place. Our work is slow and meticulous, like the formation of mountains— not even visible at first glance.

Love is our religion and method. You don't have to be highly educated or have special knowledge to understand. Our work comes from the intelligence of the heart. Perhaps you will join us. More likely, you already have. All are welcome. The door is open.

~ Edited version of original work by Brian Piergrossi

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 21/05/2016

“Ansiedade, angústia, depressão, vergonha e sentimento de desencaixe são sintomas de que há uma máscara atuando. Mas a máscara está tão colada no seu rosto que você não consegue imaginar fazer diferente; você não consegue lembrar quem está por trás dela. Então, como remover a máscara? O autoconhecimento é o único caminho para isso. E você começa esse caminho identificando suas insatisfações e contradições. Por exemplo: Ao usar a máscara da vítima, você acusa o outro pela sua infelicidade e se coloca numa posição de submissão. Porém, ao observar com profundidade, você verá que, na verdade, é você que está manipulando o outro.”

“Ansiedad, angustia, depresión, vergüenza y sentimiento de desencajado son síntomas de que hay una máscara actuando. Pero la máscara está tan pegada a tu rostro que no puedes imaginar actuar diferente, no puedes recordar quién está por detrás de ella. ¿Entonces, cómo remover la máscara? El autoconocimiento es el único camino para eso. Y comienzas ese camino identificando tus insatisfacciones y contradicciones. Por ejemplo: Al usar la máscara de la víctima, acusas al otro por tu infelicidad y te colocas en una posición de sumisión. Sin embargo, al observar con profundidad verás que, en verdad, eres tú que está manipulando al otro.”

“The feelings of not belonging, anxiety, anguish, depression, and shame are all symptoms of wearing a mask. This mask is so glued to our faces that we can’t even imagine being any different and we don’t remember who actually exists behind this mask. So how do we remove this mask? Self-knowledge is the only way. We begin walking this path by identifying the dissatisfactions and contradictions in our lives. For example,when we wear the mask of the victim, we accuse the other for our own unhappiness and we appear to put ourselves in a submissive role. However, if we observe this phenomenon more deeply, we will see that we are actually the ones manipulating the other.”

Via JMG: BREAKTHROUGH: Temple University Scientists Remove HIV From Living Animal Tissue For First Time

May 21, 2016 News, Science

The Independent reports:

Scientists have managed to remove DNA of the HIV virus from living tissue for the first time in a breakthrough that could lead to an outright cure. At the moment, treating the disease involves the use of drugs that suppress levels of the virus so the body’s immune system can cope.

Now researchers in the US have revealed they used gene-editing technology to remove DNA of the commonest HIV-1 strain from several organs of infected mice and rats.
In April, the same team reported that they had successfully eliminated the virus from human cells in the laboratory, but a paper in the journal Nature Gene Editing revealed they had managed to do the same thing in live animals for the first time.

The researchers’ team leader, Professor Kamel Khalili, of Temple University, said: “In a proof-of-concept study, we show[ed] that our gene-editing technology can be effectively delivered to many organs of two small animal models and excise large fragments of viral DNA from the host cell genome.”

A more extensive report on the technique is here.

Read the original and more on JMG here

Via Daily Dharma / May 21, 2016: Liberation from Self-Consciousness

The more you can free yourself from your internalization of the gaze of others, the more liberated you feel. As you bring more humor to issues of the body’s appearance, the more you will unleash the healthy energies of the mind.

—Thanissaro Bhikkhu, "Under Your Skin"

Via GayStarNews: This is the first time the majority of the world believes it should be legal to be LGBTI

In 2016, we can say the world is slowly becoming a better place to be gay, bisexual or transgender

 

The world is becoming a better place to be gay

This is the first time the majority of the world believes it should not be a crime to be LGBTI.

In the last major global study of attitudes to LGBTI people, developed by Pew Research in 2013, it found an average of 41% of people believed homosexuality should be legal.

But today, in new research released on International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia and Transphobia (IDAHOT), that number has increased to 53%. The survey also found only 25% believed it should be a crime.

While it must be said these are two studies released by two different research groups, it still shows how far the world has come on LGBTI issues in such a short space of time.

‘The picture we are gaining from this survey is the world is a less homophobic place than what we thought before,’ Renato Sabbadini, the executive director at ILGA, told Gay Star News.

Developed with RIWI Corp and Logo, the survey collected answers from nearly 100,000 individuals in 75 countries to discover the largest investigation of attitudes towards LGBTI people around the world ever conducted.

There were some less desirable statistics found, such as over two thirds – 68% of respondents – would be upset if their child told them they were in love with someone in the same sex.

But on whether human rights should be applied to everyone, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, the majority believed it should be. 67% of the world agreed, with 62% in Africa, 63% in Asia, 69% Americas, 71% Europe and 73% Oceania. Only 17% on the whole disagreed LGBTI people should have human rights.

‘When you look at the number of the countries that criminalize same-sex activity, we’re talking about 75 members of the UN,’ Sabbadini continued to GSN. ‘With over 193 countries in the world, it’s only a minority of countries which persist in criminalizing same-sex sexual behavior.’

On whether people may not see homosexuality is a logical issue, when it terms of gay sex being a crime for other people, but having a personal problem with it when it comes to a family member or neighbor, Sabbadini agreed and said just because people don’t want homosexuality to be a crime it doesn’t mean they are any less homophobic.

‘It gives us hope, and at the same time, it clearly indicates there’s a long way to go.’

Make the jump here to read the original and more

We The Brave - Kiss

Meet bicycle diplomat Ted Osius, America’s modern ambassador to Vietnam

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 20/05/2016

“Para podermos nos harmonizados com a natureza, precisamos resgatar a nossa própria naturalidade, a nossa espontaneidade perdida. Mas esse não é um trabalho fácil, pois o ser humano tem vivido num estado artificial ao longo de eras. E esse resgate envolve a retirada das máscaras que aprendemos a usar para fingirmos ser algo que não somos e a remoção dos amortecedores que nos impedem de entrar em contato com a dor do rompimento com a nossa essência. Em outras palavras, esse processo envolve um profundo trabalho de cura.”

“Para poder armonizarnos con la naturaleza, necesitamos rescatar nuestra propia naturalidad, nuestra espontaneidad perdida. Pero este no es untrabajo fácil, ya que el ser humano ha estado viviendo en un estado artificial a lo largo de eras. Y este rescate implica la retirada de las máscaras que aprendimos a utilizar para pretender ser algo que no somos y la remoción de las anestesias que nos impiden entrar en contacto con el dolor del quiebre con nuestra esencia. En otras palabras, este proceso implica un profundo trabajo de curación.”

“In order to be in harmony with nature, we need to rescue our own naturalness; our lost spontaneity. This is not an easy job, because human beings have lived more superficially throughout many eras. Rediscovering these parts of ourselves involves removing the masks that we have learned to wear in pretending to be something that we are not,as well as removing the numbing devices that prevent us from getting intouch with the pain of having experienced asplit from our essence. This process involves a profound healing work.”

Via Daily Dharma / May 20, 2016: Becoming Whole

We cannot delay fully embracing the moment. To do so maintains the divisions within the mind, the division between the mind and the body, and the division between the organism and its environment. All divisions are attempts to keep us from the truth of what is right here.

—Rodney Smith, "Undivided Mind"

Via FB: Becoming Your True Self by Daniel Jordan

 

The Revelation of Baha'u'llah is the Light that illumines this Day
BECOMING YOUR TRUE SELF

by Dr. Daniel Jordan
Originally published in World Order Magazine, Vol. 3, No. 1, Fall 1968, pp 43-51
Reprinted by the National Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of the United States, 1968, Fifth Printing 1978

Over a hundred years ago, the Founder of the Baha'i Faith, Baha'u'llah, made the staggering claim that His Revelation would be the chief instrument by which the unification of mankind would take place and through which world order and world peace would ultimately be established.

Few will disagree that to progress from the present state of world turmoil and conflict to world peace and unity, social institutions and the human beings making them up will have to undergo a radical transformation. Whoever is truly interested in world peace will therefore have to have an interest in how that transformation can be brought about. The Baha'i Faith having spread throughout the world in such a short time and having demonstrated its power to transform the lives of so many human beings, there has developed much interest in the nature of the actual process by which the Faith does enable a human being who embraces it to become transformed into his true self.

It would be wise to confess at the outset that it is not possible to discover or understand all of the forces latent within so vast a revelation which nurture and direct the transformation process; but there is much in the Baha'i Writings that sheds a great deal of light on the way in which the Faith transforms the lives of its adherents by releasing the human potential.

The interest in how human potential is released is personal rather than academic, for millions everywhere are longing to become, as Baha'u'llah expresses it, fully noble, rather than remain imprisoned and abased.

Of course Baha'u'llah's teachings concerning the transformation process are stimulating to the mind, but knowledge of them has also a practical purpose for, as we shall see, conscious knowledge of what is happening to oneself during that process helps to consolidate the gains and enables one to identify and accept, often through painful experiences that may at first appear needless or cruel, opportunities for further growth.

Personal transformation is a fundamental reason that people are attracted to the Faith, develop conviction as to its truth, and finally become Baha'is. The reason is simple. People who come in contact with the Faith and feel themselves being transformed by it have an experience that is self-validating. No one can take that experience away from them and no intellectual argument can make it appear insignificant or unreal. Feeling oneself becoming the best of what one can potentially be constitutes the highest joy. It promotes a sense of self-worth, obviates the need for expressing hostility, and guarantees a compassionate social conscience -- all prerequisites of world unity and peace.

The Nature of Human Potential

But what is the "best" of what one can potentially be? Baha'u'llah teaches that the highest expression of the self is servitude. The degree to which this highest station of servitude can be achieved is commensurate with the degree to which the basic powers or capacities of the human being can be released. The process of becoming one's true self, then, is synonymous with that process of developing basic capacities and dedicating them to the service of humanity. The daily decisions and actions which reflect this "becoming" are essentially religious in nature, for Baha'u'llah equates work of all kinds performed in a spirit of service -- in the spirit of that highest station of man -- with worship. The person who begins to see the religious nature of "becoming" will not only recognize a profound new dimension in work and worship, but will also see religion in a new light. He will begin to understand that when the force which continually enables one to grow disappears from any religion, it is time for it to be renewed, for religion devoid of that force is little more than empty rituals, meaningless dogmas, and social conventions which block the expression of the human spirit and impede social progress.

Service to mankind is given quality by the depth and character of the capacities of the human being rendering it. What are these capacities? Baha'u'llah identifies them in His statement of the animating purpose behind man's creation: to know and to love God. Here the two basic powers or capacities of knowing and loving are clearly specified and linked to our purpose -- our reason for being. Thus, for a Baha'i, becoming one's true self means the development of one's knowing and loving capacities in service to mankind.

This understanding gives substance to the notion of spirituality. A spiritual person is one who knows and loves God and who is committed to the struggle of developing those knowing and loving capacities for service to humanity. By definition, then, being closed-minded about something, refusing to look at new evidence -- blocking the knowing capacity, or reacting to others in unloving ways -- are all signs of spiritual immaturity or spiritual sickness.

All other virtues can be understood as expressions of different combinations of these basic capacities of loving and knowing as they are applied in different situations. The loving capacity includes not only the ability to love but also the ability to be loved -- to attract love. We cannot have lovers without loved ones. If we do not know how to be loved or cannot accept it, then we frustrate others who are struggling to develop their capacity to love. Not accepting someone's love is very frequently experienced as rejection and does untold amounts of damage, particularly in young children.

The knowing capacity also includes a knowledge of how to learn and how to teach. Teaching and learning are reciprocal aspects of the knowing capacity. No teacher is a good teacher who cannot learn from his pupils, and no good pupil fails to question his teacher so that both teacher and pupil learn.

Each capacity supports and facilitates the development of the other. In order to know, for instance, we must love learning; if we are to love, we must know how to love and how to be loved.

These two capacities constitute the basic nature of human potential. From a Baha'i point of view, true education refers to a drawing out or a development of potential to the fullest extent possible. 

Unfortunately, much of contemporary education is concerned only with a presentation of information rather than a drawing out of potential. For this reason, schools are primarily a place where facts and ideas are dispensed by the teacher and stored by the pupil. Consequently, diplomas and degrees do no more than certify that certain kinds and amounts of information were dispensed and that the recipient of the diploma was able to demonstrate at various points during the course of his formal education that he had stored the information long enough for it to be retrieved and written down on an examination. Such degrees or diplomas say nothing about the loving or feeling capacity of the student and therefore say very little about character -- a word which refers to the person's ability to apply his knowledge constructively and express his love for humanity.

Furthermore, it has been demonstrated that if the loving capacity is blocked in any way, there will be learning problems and the development of the knowing capacity will be impaired. That is why a school system based on the narrow "dispensing-of-information" view of education can never adequately serve the needs of society. True education should foster development towards the achievement of the highest station -- servitude -- and must therefore be concerned with the whole person and his character rather than just a small part of him.

Faith and the Release of Human Potential

It is one thing to describe the nature of human potential and another to be able to release it. The Baha'i Faith does both. The nature of human potential has already been briefly discussed. Let us now explore the ways in which the Faith initiates and sustains the transformation process by releasing human potential.

The basic source of the power for transformation is the Writings of Baha'u'llah. Exposure to his Writings nurtures the development of faith -- the first prerequisite for transformation. Basically, faith refers to an attitude towards the unknown or unknowable which ultimately enables one to approach it in a way that something more of it becomes known. It thus represents a special interplay of the two basic capacities of knowing and loving. In essence, faith means a loving of the unknown or unknowable -- an attraction to whatever is unknown and a capacity to approach it. Since, as Baha'u'llah affirms, God is unknowable, it takes faith to become attracted and related to Him.

We all have a kind of cosmic hunger, a need to be relaxed to all things including the infinitude of the Universe. This is a natural by-product of consciousness. Since we experience ourselves as beings distinct from all other things in the universe, we feel compelled to find out how we stand in relationship to every other thing, and this includes being related to those unknown or unknowable things which also exist in the universe. The ultimate unknowable mystery of the universe is called by many names: Allah, Jehovah, God, Supreme Being. Now, because man has the capacity for faith -- a particular attitude toward the unknown -- he has, down through history, responded to the Founders of the world's great religions Who came to manifest the attributes of that unknowable mystery in the universe -- God -- and satisfy our cosmic hunger. Thus, faith is one important expression of our purpose, which is to know and to love God.

It is interesting to note that, if our basic capacities are knowing and loving, and if we are created in the image of God, then knowing and loving must be among the attributes of God. In The Hidden Words, Baha'u'llah indicates that this is so. He says, "O Son of Man! Veiled in My immemorial being and in the ancient eternity of My essence, I knew My love for thee; therefore I created thee, have engraved on thee Mine image and revealed to thee My beauty." (#3 Arabic http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/HW/hw-4.html)

Further, if God is unknowable and if we are created in His image, then we may expect something in ourselves also to be unknown. This unknown is the as-yet unexpressed potential within us -- latent capacities for knowing and loving. In a very dramatic way, Baha'u'llah points to that vast unknown in ourselves when he quotes in the Seven Valleys the verse of a well-known Persian poet: "Dost thou reckon thyself only a puny form / When within thee the universe if folded?" (Valley of Wonderment http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SVFV/svfv-6.html)

None of us knows his capacity for love or how much he can learn. Just as we had to have faith before we could learn about the attributes of God, so must we have faith before we can know something of ourselves. We must love -- be attracted to, have a particular attitude towards -- that unknown in our own selves if it is to become released. if we relate unsatisfactorily to the unknown in ourselves, we will be able to relate to the unknown in others. In other words, we have to accept others not only for what they presently are but also for what they can become; otherwise, we impede their process of transformation and keep them from becoming their own true selves.

This is why a person who has given up on himself, who has stopped becoming and has therefore betrayed his potential, will find all his relationships with other human beings disturbed, unsatisfying, and even painful. To accept and relate to another human being just as he is at a particular moment in time precludes the development of anything more than a superficial relationship. To achieve deeply meaningful relationships with other human beings, we have also to accept the unknown possibilities within them, for that acceptance constitutes one important source of their courage to become. In more personal terms, if you do not accept the unknown possibilities in yourself, you will not be able to establish anything more than superficial relationships with other human beings, and you will not be able to help them to develop their potential nor yourself to develop your own.

Since a human being's potential is an extremely important part of his reality -- in fact, the basis of his future growth -- it must be accepted by others and play a part in human relationships before he can feel totally accepted. Total acceptance on the part of others constitutes a special kind of trust that is very difficult to betray. It is one very important source of benevolent pressure to become and one of the most significant criteria of real love and friendship. This kind of pressure reciprocated between two human beings will spiritualize any relationship, but has particular significance for marriage. It forms the spiritual basis for marriage.

The necessity for reciprocity in this kind of relationship is clearly expressed by Baha'u'llah in The Hidden Words. He states, "O Son of Being! Love Me, that I may love thee. If thou lovest Me not, My love can in no wise reach thee. Know this, O servant." (#5 Arabic, http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/HW/hw-6.html) In this verse, God commands, through His Manifestation, that we love Him and accept Him in spite of the fact that he is unknowable. Being attracted to the unknowable is the essence of faith. If there is no faith, no attraction to that primary mystery -- God -- then we become alienated from the mystery in our own selves and cut off from the power to grow and develop. The statement quoted above started with "O Son of Being" and ends with "know this, O servant." Thus, in that very short verse, the two basic capacities of loving and knowing are again emphasized in the context of being and serving. It connects the process of being or becoming with that highest station of servitude.

Anxiety and the Unknown

Facing any unknown is not easy. The prospect of it, particularly when facing the unknown in ourselves, is always accompanied by anxiety. An extrinsic unknown is nearly always perceived as a potential threat to our security for it brings up a question that represents an intrinsic unknown -- do we, or do we not have what it will take to deal successfully with that extrinsic unknown?

Anxiety has all of the qualities of a fear reaction, except that it usually has no clear-cut object. Both fear reactions and anxiety reactions are characterized by a rapid energizing of the system which prepares it to deal with an emergency situation. One can handle the fear reaction more easily, since the threatening object is identifiable and can be removed or avoided. In the case of anxiety, the system goes into a state of preparedness for an emergency when it is not clear what the emergency is. Without any object, it is difficult to know what action to take and the system is never quite certain when to declare the emergency over. Anxiety may thus be seen as energy without a goal.

The only successful way to deal with anxiety is to treat that energy as a gift and find a concrete goal for it which will serve the more basic goal or purpose of developing capacities for loving and knowing. Determining what that goal should be in specific terms is perhaps the most universally creative act of man. It entails assuming a risk and stepping into the unknown, bearing the burden of doubt, yet always hopeful of discovering some new capacity or some new limitation (which is also part of one's reality). Being attracted to that unknown in ourselves is faith; being able to utilize the energy from anxiety by formulating a goal and taking steps toward it is courage. Thus, faith, doubt, anxiety, and courage are all basic aspects of the process of transformation -- the release of potential. If there were no unknowns, there would be no doubt or anxiety; and with no doubt or anxiety there would be no need for faith and courage.

The Spiritual Matrix of Transformation

The power of the Baha'i Faith to transform human beings by releasing their potential stems directly from the fact that it keeps doubt and anxiety from reaching unmanageable proportions and provides an incentive and motivation to deal with them constructively through faith and courage. Baha'u'llah himself indicated that the primary source of the power for transformation comes from an acceptance of his Word -- the Word of God. His Writings are often referred to as "the creative word" precisely because human beings have felt themselves being created anew as they have become more and more exposed to it. Baha'u'llah clearly affirms that if you want to become transformed, you must "immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words."

Immersion into that ocean begins the process of transformation by creating an awareness in us of the essential nature and purpose behind our creation. Nobody can read Baha'u'llah without feeling his own loving and knowing capacities being awakened and developed. As we continually explore the Writings, we begin to see ourselves differently and to see the environment differently. As we begin to see ourselves and the environment differently, we begin to feel differently about things. As we begin to feel differently, we begin to behave differently. Behaving differently is the tangible manifestation of one's having embarked upon the adventure of becoming what he potentially can become.

The Writings therefore serve as that intervening force which enables us to become free from all of those attachments and fears which keep us imprisoned and unable to take that risky but creative step into the unknown. We know that human beings are often changed by intense experiences of one kind or another. Immersion in the ocean of Baha'u'llah's Words is not just reading; it is an experience for the whole man which can become intense enough to free him from ties to the status quo and to set him forth on the pursuit of his destiny. As we are freed from crippling attachments to what other people think of us, we are less likely to be manipulated by them -- imprisoned by them -- and develop instead a source of intrinsic motivation.

The Writings also reduce general anxiety and doubt to manageable proportions by making sense out of human history and the world's present state of perpetual crisis. This means that we need not pretend the crises do not exist or refuse to face them. Thus understanding something of the problems which face us not only reduces anxiety but attracts courage.

A further source of courage stems from Baha'u'llah's indication, in general terms, of what kinds of goals are legitimate and in keeping with the purpose of our creation. That gives us some guidance in taking that creative step of defining a goal which can be achieved by utilizing energy from anxiety. 

We have an option here. We can either take that creative step of defining a goal and facilitate the transformation process or we can refuse to do that, in any conscious way, and hope that the anxiety will finally go away by itself. Obviously, persons who have a great deal of guidance in what kind of goals to establish will be more apt to make conscious decisions in regard to defining goals. In the absence of such a definition, energy from anxiety is likely to be expressed in aggressive and hostile acts towards other human beings, whose reactions to the attack will very likely further impede growth and development not only in themselves but in the persons to whom they are reacting.

Thus, the Writings stimulate our knowing and loving capacities in a unique way which we may call faith and courage. That, in turn, serves to guarantee a continued growth and development of those two basic capacities. In other words, knowing and loving used in the right way through faith and courage will increase the knowing and loving capacity -- will release human potential.

The Social Matrix of Transformation

But this is not all of the picture. Baha'u'llah has made provisions for the formation of communities whose institutions may safeguard and promote the transformation of humanity. The Baha'i Community becomes, then, the social matrix of transformation.

Because of Baha'u'llah's affirmation of the principle of the oneness of mankind, all Baha'i Communities are composed of human beings from diverse linguistic, racial, national, and religious backgrounds. This diversity in the Baha'i Community represents to every member many unknowns -- or, in less euphemistic terms, the Baha'i Community is made up of human beings many of whom one would not ordinarily be attracted to or choose to be one's friends. It is well known that we tend to choose for our friends others who think the same as we do, who feel the same way about other things as we do, who have similar tastes, and who like doing similar things. Within such a homogeneous group, one's transformation can easily come to a halt, for a set repertoire of responses is developed and there is no stimulus to develop new ones. That is why one of the most precious attributes of a Baha'i Community is its diversity.

When one joins a Baha'i Community he joins a family of extremely diverse human beings with whom he will have to work and establish meaningful relationships. The first thing he finds out, is that his old repertoire of responses is no longer adequate. So many different human beings represent a great many unknowns, and trying to relate to those unknowns creates energy (anxiety) which sets that reciprocal process of knowing and loving through faith and courage in motion. Defining a legitimate goal which will constructively utilize the energy from that anxiety will call forth a new repertoire of responses. Each new response is a bit of one's latent capacity made manifest -- a release of human potential. Another way of saying it is that the Baha'i Community offers more opportunities for knowing and loving under growth-fostering circumstances than can be found anywhere else.

Typically, a Baha'i moves through a pattern of spiritual evolution starting with tolerance for the diversity of his fellow community members. As knowledge is added, that tolerance grows into understanding. When love is added, understanding blossoms into appreciation. This appreciation for diversity is the spiritual and social opposite of ethnocentrism. The journey from ethnocentrism, through the stages of toleration and understanding, to a state of appreciation always entails many anxieties and doubts. We are often put in the position of not quite knowing what to do or if we do knbow what to do, we do not feel like doing it. These are tests which are prerequisite to our transformation. 'Abdu'l-Baha, Baha'u'llah's son, states unequivocally that without tests there is no spiritual development.

Here we come to a very critical issue. Tests can many times destroy an individual. 'Abdu'l-Baha explains that if we turn away from God for the solution, the test may indeed destroy us. If we turn to God for the solution and if we have the loving support of other members in the Community we can pass the test successfully. Thus the Baha'i Community, because of its diversity, provides many of those tests which are essential to our spiritual development. At the same time, guidance from Baha'i institutions and the commitment of the members of the community to accept each other for what they can become provides the courage to turn those tests into vehicles for spiritual development -- for the release of human potential.

In brief, that is the spiritual meaning of adversity. Baha'u'llah states, "My calamity is My providence, outwardly it is fire and vengeance, but inwardly it is light and mercy. Hasten thereunto that thou mayest become an eternal light and an immortal spirit. This is My command unto thee, do thou observe it." (Hidden Words #51 Arabic, http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/HW/hw-52.html)

Thus, for a Baha'i happiness is not a life free from anxiety or tension. That is the Baha'i definition of boredom. Happiness for a Baha'i is having tests and knowing how to summon the courage to pass them in such a way that his knowing and loving capacities are further developed in service to humanity. Living in the community provides the tests which become the opportunities to acquire experience in translating abstract principles into concrete realities, and this gives faith a foundation of conscious knowledge. It is this ever-expanding conscious knowledge of how to apply the principles of the Faith in real situations that consolidates the gains in spiritual development and provides the base for continued growth.

Prejudice - a Block in the Path

Unification of all peoples of the earth cannot take place if individual human beings are not united within themselves. Baha'u'lah indicated that he could find no human being who was inwardly and outwardly united. If one's knowing and loving capacities are in conflict, then one is not inwardly or outwardly united. The consequence is that one's words and deeds will not be in harmony.

The conflict of these capacities is reflected outwardly on another level. Science, for instance, may be regarded as an expression of man's knowing capacity and religion as an expression of his loving capacity. Baha'u'llah taught that science and religion must go hand in hand, or the conflict will cause destruction. Today we see how knowledge of nuclear energy without love creates a constant threat to our survival.

In a very basic sense, the word prejudice refers to conflicts in the way these two capacities are expressed. A prejudice is a belief (a kind of knowing) in something that is not true coupled with an emotional confirmation (a kind of loving). In other words, a prejudice is an emotional attraction or commitment to falsehood or error. Actions based on that commitment are nearly always damaging to the person who is the victim of the action as well as to the one who is carrying it out.

On a personal level, prejudice represents a definite blockage in the expression of human potential because the loving capacity has been used to impede the knowing capacity. In a fundamental sense, almost all neuroses and psychoses can be understood in terms of this kind of conflict. The goal of therapy therefore always has to be a removal of the blockage towards becoming one's true self by enabling the person's loving capacity to support his knowing powers and vice versa.

On the social level, prejudice in action results in massive injustices ranging from discrimination and segregation to open violence and hostility organized in the form of wars. In like manner, this represents a definite blockage in the expression of society's potential.

Every barrier to the unification of mankind is sustained by a prejudice -- by widespread culturally determined emotional commitments to a falsehood. For this reason, Baha'is see the process of unification of mankind as being synonymous with the progressive eradication of prejudice. Before the barriers to unification can be torn down, the prejudices which support them must be abolished.

Why is prejudice so difficult to eradicate? One reason is that human beings often are unaware that they have a prejudice. Fundamentally, this is what bigotry is -- being ignorant of one's ignorance while making bold and confident assertions of the rightness and truth of one's position. Bigoted persons are in a tragic position because they always avoid exposing themselves to any situation which would confront them with the fact that they may possibly have a prejudice. How would a person know whether or not he did have a commitment to an error in the form of a prejudice if he were never exposed to the experience which would reveal it? In concrete personal terms, how would you know that you had a prejudice against somebody who spoke another language or had a skin color different from your own, if you never had the opportunity to be with such a person -- an experience which would help to reveal the error?

This is precisely why the Baha'i Community is so essential to the progressive eradication of prejudice. It provides an opportunity at every turn for everyone to have the kinds of experiences which will let him know where his prejudices are. It is for this reason that the struggle for world unity takes place more within the Baha'i Community than outside it. Outside the community, people can insulate themselves from those experiences which will reveal their prejudices to them while continuing to hear only those experiences which enable their perceptions to remain distorted and their commitment to falsehood strong.

For a Baha'i, discovering a prejudice in himself is always a test, and the moment he recognizes it he knows that he must struggle to eradicate it, not only because it will make him be unjust to other people if he does not, but also because his own spiritual development absolutely depends upon it.
 
What happens to a person with a blocked potential -- a person who for whatever reason has not been able to find out how to become his true self? If he is a passive or introverted kind of person, he will escape into a fantasy world, withdraw into a world of drugs and alcohol, and will probably eventually become so dysfunctional that he may have to be institutionalized. If the person is action-oriented and extroverted, he will be hostile and aggressive and may eventually have to be institutionalized for committing crimes. The point here is simple: the person who is in the process of becoming, whose loving and knowing capacities are being continually developed, does not want to escape responsibility into a world of fantasy, nor does he want to fight, hurt or kill. It is impossible for human beings who feel their human potential being released to engage in a war of any kind. Under such circumstances there is absolutely no motivation for hostile action. It is for this reason that Baha'u'llah claims that His Faith and the Baha'i Community will be that agency through which world peace will be ultimately established.

The Image of God and the Kingdom of God on Earth

That unknown in ourselves which the unexpressed potential represents has been referred to as the image of God. Becoming our true self means relating to that unknown in such a way that more and more of it becomes expressed. This always involves finding a goal for the energy from the anxiety that comes from facing that unknown.

This entire process has a social counterpart. What the image of God is to the individual human being the Kingdom of God on earth is to human society. That kingdom represents what society can potentially become just as the image of God represents what the individual can become. When there is transformation of individuals on a massive scale through the release of human potential -- when the latent capacities for loving and knowing are organized and expressed on a social level as the progressive eradication of prejudice -- we advance towards the establishment of the Kingdom of God on earth.

Baha'u'llah's Revelation did not deal only with the transformation of the individual in a vacuum, for this would be extremely difficult if not impossible. He also provided a blueprint for building a new world order. That building process is directed and guided by Baha'i institutions in a way that will enable society to become its true self -- the Kingdom of God on earth. The response to anxieties and tests on an individual basis also has a social counterpart. Social institutions have their tests too; and their development depends on whether or not they can take that creative step into the unknown and form new kinds of legislation sustained by new kinds of judicial supports.

Baha'is accept the Kingdom of God on earth as a reality ultimately attainable, not through a passive waiting for it to happen to us in an instant by some miracle, but through dedicated efforts over a long period of time to become what we can become in the face of many trials and tribulations. Those who make these dedicated efforts feel themselves to play an active part in the greatest miracle of all -- conscious acceptance of the responsibility to become knowing and loving servants of mankind for the glorification of God.

Thus, as greater and greater numbers of human beings find a way in the Baha'i Faith to become their own true selves -- to reflect the image of God in their lives, society will also be in the process of becoming its true self -- the Kingdom of God on earth.

In the Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys, Baha'u'llah writes: "If the travelers seek after the goal of the Intended One ... this station appertaineth to the self -- but that self which is 'The Self of God standing within Him with laws.'

"On this plane, the self is not rejected but beloved; it is well-pleasing and not to be shunned. Although at the beginning, this plane is the realm of conflict, yet it endeth in attainment to the throne of splendor...

"This is the plane of the self which is well-pleasing unto God. Refer to the verse: 'Oh, thou soul which art well-assured / Return to thy Lord, well-pleased, and pleasing unto Him ... Enter thou among My servants, / And enter thou My paradise.'" (The First Valley, p 50, http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/SVFV/svfv-9.html)

"O My servants! Could ye apprehend with what wonders of My munificence and bounty I have willed to entrust your souls, ye would, of a truth, rid yourselves of attachment to all created things, and would gain a true knowledge of your own selves -- a knowledge which is the same as the comprehension of Mine own Being. Ye would find yourselves independent of all else but Me, and would perceive, with your inner and outer eye, and as manifest as the revelation of My effulgent Name, the seas of my loving-kindness and bounty moving within you." (Gleanings From the Writings of Baha'u'llah, CLIII, pp 326-327 http://reference.bahai.org/en/t/b/GWB/gwb-153.html)

Via Sri Prem Baba: Flor do dia - Flor del día - Flower of the day 19/05/2016

“O autoconhecimento e a meditação são instrumentos que nos ajudam a dissolver as capas de ilusão que nos fazem reagir a partir das dores do passado. Através desses instrumentos, nos libertamos da ideia de que somos uma história, um nome ou um corpo, e podemos ter a lembrança de quem somos. Todo o nosso trabalho é para que possamos nos libertar dessas dores que ainda habitam o nosso sistema, não só através do silêncio e da meditação, mas também através da liberação dos sentimentos negados que nos mantém presos às memórias negativas do passado.” 

“El auto-conocimiento y la meditación son herramientas que nos ayudan a disolver capas de ilusión que nos hacen reaccionar a partir de dolores pasados. A través de estos instrumentos, nos liberamos de la idea de que somos una historia, un nombre o un cuerpo, y podemos recordar quienes somos. Todo nuestro trabajo es para que podamos liberarnos de esos dolores que aún habitan en nuestro sistema, no sólo a través del silencio y de la meditación, sino también a través de la liberación de los sentimientos negados que nos mantienen prisionerosde las memorias negativas del pasado.” 

“Self knowledge and meditation are tools that help us dissolve the layers of illusion that cause us to react out of our pains from the past. Through these instruments, we can free ourselves from the idea that we are our story, our name and our bodies, and we may have a glimpse of who we truly are. All our work is aimed towards freeing ourselves of these pains that still live in our systems.This is not only done through silence and meditation, but also by freeing the denied feelings that keep us trapped in our negative memories of the past.”

Via Daily Dharma / May 19, 2016: The Sound of the Bell

In Buddhism, the sound of the bell is considered to be the voice of the Buddha. Stop talking. Stop thinking. Come back to your breathing. Listen with all your being. —Thich Nhat Hanh, "Brief Teachings Spring 2016"