Tag: relationships

Categories
- Empowerment - Three Protagonists Development Justice Oneness

From the Animator to a World Civilization

The worldwide Baha’i community is dedicated to a systematic long-term process of learning how to translate the principles of the Revelation of Baha’u’llah into reality and engaging more and more people in an “exploration of reality that gives rise to a shared understanding of the exigencies of this period in human history and means for addressing them.”  The community’s activities are the current representation of this process of learning.  The end goal: a world civilization that has achieved a dynamic coherence between the material and spiritual requirements of life.

 

How do these activities relate to a world civilization?  Let’s work backwards.

 

A world civilization that has achieved a dynamic coherence between the material and spiritual requirements of life requires relationships that are completely reconceptualized and based upon the principle of the oneness of humankind – the relationships between and among individuals, communities, and institutions – as well as social structures that are based on fresh conceptions of justice.

Relationships based upon the oneness of humanity and social structures based upon justice require patterns of behavior and habits of thought that are founded upon an understanding of the spiritual nature of the human being: that justice is a faculty of the soul, and that the rational soul – a human being’s identity – has no gender, race, ethnicity, or class.

These patterns of behavior and habits of thought that strive to embody more and more the principles of oneness and justice – in other words, a change of culture – require patterns of community life that draw upon our common identity; a community that takes “charge of its own spiritual, social and intellectual development” and is “eager to improve [its] material and spiritual conditions”.

Creating such a community life necessitates certain foundational collective activities that will occur even as humanity matures into a world civilization, such as praying together, educating the young together, studying together and applying insights into action together, and reflecting and consulting together.  These activities will never cease, only simply change form.

At various stages in the development of community life, one activity may flourish more rapidly.  This should be strengthened, as an advance in one aspect of the community-building process will advance the whole.  At our current stage of growth, the junior youth spiritual empowerment program has proven vital and beneficial to enhancing the entire scheme of community-building.

In order to develop the junior youth spiritual empowerment program, there needs to be strong animators – those older youth who work with junior youth groups – who “come to regard themselves as agents of social change”, “endowed with a twofold sense of purpose that impels them to take charge of their own spiritual and intellectual growth and contribute to the welfare of society”, and who can “examine the forces shaping their society and their role in contributing to its constructive transformation”.

 

This sequence of thoughts helps to show how service as an animator of a junior youth group is directly tied with contributing to the advancement of a world civilization.

Categories
- Consultation - Education - Empowerment - Governance - Language - Oppression - Prevailing Conceptions - Religion - Three Protagonists Development Discourse Human Nature Justice Knowledge Oneness

Summary: Ridvan 2012 Message

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1. Abdu’l-Baha’s Temple-ground piercing Centenary. Diverse participants then and now.

2. Divine civilization beyond mere adjustments to present order.

3. Erroneous assumptions of human nature, justified by failings, disallow spiritual potential.

4. Imprisonment enables sympathetic hearts. 5-Year Plan (5YP) features grasped. Intensify application.

5. Signs: individual transformation, divine communities, administration promotes human welfare. Protagonist’s mutual support.

6. Citizens, body politic, societal institutions struggle for power. Cooperative Baha’i alternative emerging: responsible individual, nurturing institutions, eager community.

7. Revelation recasts societal relationships. Economic injustice tolerated; disproportionate gain emblem of success. Eschew dishonesty, exploitation.

8. National Mashriqu’l-Adhkars to be raised in Democratic Republic of Congo and Papua New Guinea. Remarkable response to Plans.

9. Mashriqu’l-Adhkar weds worship and service, reflected in devotionals and educational process, correlates with size and SA. JYSEP fuels SC’s and CC’s. Learning site fortifies E&C. Erection of Local Houses of Worship: Battambang, Cambodia; Bihar Sharif, India; Matunda Soy, Kenya; Norte del Cauca, Colombia; and Tanna, Vanuatu clusters.

10. Temples Fund established. Sacrificial contributions invited.

11. Seven countries breaking Temple-ground. Every city prelude. From these Dawning-Points peal out anthems of His praise.

The Universal House of Justice

 

“…extraordinary reservoir of spiritual potential available to any illumined soul…”

 

Abbreviations:
5YP – Five Year Plan
SA – Social Action
JYSEP – Junior Youth Spiritual Empowerment Program
SC – Study Circle
CC – Children’s Class
E&C – Expansion and Consolidation

 

 

Categories
- Religion - Science - Three Protagonists Knowledge

Walking a Path

That one who generates knowledge can be likened unto a scout evokes images of walking a path, which perhaps can be an analogy to the process of generating and applying knowledge.  Let us expand on this analogy.  Firstly, walking a path is a collective enterprise, not an isolated act; a path invites the participation of many and can be known by all.  A path has an end point and necessitates a structured, defined, and logical progression forward; but the actual course is not a straight line – thus, progress is mapped out, by multiple groups, through periodic reflection on current position and factors, at which point, the course and direction can be adjusted.  In this way, uncharted territory and related lines of exploration can be charted, and a fuller picture of the landscape can be obtained.  Walking a path implies constant movement and active effort, and yet the pace is not fixed; all strides are accommodated.  Those who walk this path require skills and abilities, qualities and attitudes, and it is through walking with others that these capacities are developed, not in isolation or off the path – there is no “practice” path; all actions are within a social context.  And of course, this path is not mapped out from the beginning; the horizon in the distance beckons those who walk and provides the general direction and goal, while the lamps that illumine their footsteps are the systems of knowledge and practice of science and religion.

One note about pace.  Although it is fostering a natural and unified process of forward movement with others that is important, and not reaching the end goal in a disunified manner, still there must be value placed on the speed of exploration.  The rate of progress of organic social processes can be increased, while still maintaining requisite characteristics of unity, justice, and humility.  The relationships between individuals, communities, and institutions, all walking this path, and their ability to engage in an ongoing learning process – defined as consultation, action, reflection on action, and study of science and religion – is what will determine the pace of progress.  In short, as has been a theme throughout, the advancement of civilization is propelled by the generation of knowledge within a learning mode and the development of proper relationships between its three protagonists.

Categories
- Oppression - Prevailing Conceptions Development Power

Exploitation and Oppression

The processes of development have adopted values driven by economic growth, values that often view all things as means to a narrow-minded end, values that reduce an individual’s identity to a producer, consumer, and coveter of goods, values that reduce human virtue to economic goods. The underlying assumptions and values of the materialistic enterprise have ended up characterizing development efforts and relationships as exploitative and oppressive.

One of the most obvious examples is humanity’s relationship with nature. It seems as though there is a competition between nations to destroy ecosystems with greater and greater swiftness in their attempt to sap as much output in the shortest amount of time, completely disregarding any requirements beyond the present. Little wonder that the state of health is in a crisis, as air and water are poisoned to produce the same shoes that one wears to the emergency room. If endless material acquisition is the goal, then why shouldn’t the planet’s resources be drained?

The relationship of the individual and the institutions of society is another example. Individuals, groups, and societies are fed manipulations of their identity so that corporations can profit. They are denied self-knowledge, and thus are grievously oppressed – in fact, the system depends on demoralized and self-serving individuals who have no sense of collective responsibility. They view their own human capacities for good, for honesty, for cooperation, all in terms of economic profit or loss – thus, their own spiritual potentialities become relative and subservient to economic growth.

Even relations among individuals become exploitative and oppressive. There is a constant power struggle between classes, races, ranks, and statuses; “how much can I gain from another” becomes the dominating question in the workplace, education, the social scene, and even romantic relationships. Others are seen as means to one’s end. And then people are perplexed as to why friendship and marriage have become so superficial and so difficult.

Exploitation and oppression are inherent features of the materialistic view of human reality. How does a spiritual understanding of human nature change the dynamics and characteristics of development and relationships?

Categories
- Three Protagonists Development Oneness

History of the World, Part 2

All things evolve and develop along a path, unfolding towards maturity along a spiritual journey. The richest repository of this potential is human civilization progressing from ancient times until the modern age. The present era has seen the emergence of humankind from an age of infancy towards its transitional phase of adolescence before full adulthood. The exigencies of the age we live in vary from those gone before it, the remedies and methods employed even fifty years ago are inadequate and lamentably deficient in addressing the challenges we face today.  Similarly, humanity’s collective achievements and capacities are of a scale undreamt of an age ago.  The explosion of knowledge, alone, testifies that we are indeed evolving through a distinct phase.  This adolescent age of transition is characterized by turbulence, chaos, and a questioning of collective identity; yet discernible is the approaching age of maturity that humanity is irresistibly marching towards.  Whether we arrive is not a question – rather, how will we reach our next evolutionary stage?  Will we stubbornly cling to old patterns of behavior, competitive and atomistic?  Will we embrace a consultative, cooperative, and collective consciousness and proceed united?

The hallmark of this age of maturity is the unification of the entire human race.  This represents the consummation of human evolution, which began with the birth of family life, to tribal solidarity, to the creation of city-states, to independent nations, and will continue to a world civilization.  Why wouldn’t this be so.  Why do we think of all things in terms of evolution, and not humanity?  And then once we do, why would we think our social evolution has halted with our current stage of sovereign nations?  Isn’t world civilization the next obvious step in humanity’s social progression?  Our next stage requires reordering the life of the individual, of the community, and of the institutions, and reconceptualizing the relationships between and among them all.

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Oneness

Collective Transformation and the Individual

Oneness reconceptualized across spatial and intergenerational dimensions informs social policy and institutions. Re-structuring according to principles of reciprocity, cooperation and interconnectedness engenders profound ramifications for the relationship binding the individual and society. All humans are molded by their environment, some less than others, and yet all of us are gifted with the capacity to free ourselves from delimiting social norms. The term ‘social action’ has been coined to describe the process by which an individual acts on her or his society to upgrade it. Who are such individuals we can ask? Describe the role such individuals play in the generation and structuring of a New World Order. How would you describe the interaction between such social actors and the collective society to which they belong, and which they seek to transform? Can we trace the dramatic divergences of the concept and practice of what it means to be an “individual” as it has evolved in antiquity through medieval and feudal societies  to modern western nations and  eventually how it will look in the united and prosperous future of our race? What kind of woman, man, or child actually carries out the stepping and ploughing of an ever-advancing civilization? What are the foremost virtues of this new race of citizen-statesmen?

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Oneness

Oneness and Order

Universal scope and jurisdiction must be afforded any institutions necessary for the construction of a planetary civilization that deems for itself laws and order conducive to global prosperity. Educational systems and mass communication media must become conduits for the dissemination of the system of knowledge and praxis that derives from consciousness of the oneness of humankind. Faith in the oneness of humanity must become axiomatically accepted by senates of power in whose hands the charge of responsible decision making lies. A keystone turning point in the annals of prosperity will be discovered, at such a time, and new laws and institutions constructed. A functioning nervous system therewith comes into being on a planetary scale. Such a vision allows for the coordination and canalization of the efforts of diverse people into the task of formulating common global goals and committing ourselves to act towards their fulfilment. Fundamental restructuring of values and policies will protect our nations from descent into age-old divisions of ethnic and religious strife. With the genuine dawn of the consciousness that we are all one human family, people from all walks of life will be empowered to outgrow habits of dissension and strife that have characterized social order in the past. Soon we will begin to learn the ways of cooperation and conciliation. The well-being of mankind, its peace, its security, are unattainable unless and until its unity is firmly established.

Categories
Development Oneness

Twofold Transformation

Human beings have a two-fold moral purpose: to develop our own personal spiritual attributes (such as love, kindness, wisdom, generosity, and intelligence) as well as to contribute to the social and institutional progress of an ever-advancing civilization. Some strands of popular discourse have not yet recognized that with the historical rise in social organization in the scientific age the scope of the potentialities latent in each human life has correspondingly increased as well. This reciprocal relationship between the power of the individual and the expansiveness of social organization directs our attention toward the next stage in human destiny, necessary now more than ever before: planetary unity, justice and equality. It also directs our attention to the realization that this transformation must occur simultaneously within individual human consciousnesses and in the manifold structures of social institutions. Every opportunity created by this twofold transformation will be as a torch-bearer guiding our way into the labyrinth of humanity’s conscious purpose of global development. This crucial stage of human history offers us the opportunity to establish a foundation for just, united, and equitable planetary civilization.

Twofold butterfly

Categories
Oneness

Oneness

At this critical moment in the history of humanity’s social evolution, the diverse people’s of the world need a more coherent vision of society that can guide the advancement of civilization.  This need can only be met through the voluntary acceptance of an ever-widening circle of the earth’s diverse peoples of the principle of the oneness of humankind – which entails both transformation of human consciousness and organic changes in societal structures.  On a practical level, this principle defines relationships, between and among individuals, institutions, and communities.

Where do you see examples of relationships characterized by cooperation and reciprocity?

Where are there opportunities to create relationships characterized by cooperation and reciprocity?