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UNIT 5 PRAYER AND MEDITATION At the heart of many peoples' religious belief there is often a spiritual or mystical experience. Encouraging people to develop the spiritual side of their natures is an important part of the Bahá'í Faith. Without this spiritual dimension, the Bahá'í Faith would be little more than a system of social teachings. This unit looks at why spirituality is important and suggests that prayer and meditation are an essential ingredient in people's everyday lives. A number of quotations from the Bahá'í Writings have been included and you will find references to these at the end of the text. PRAYER In the blazing heat of the Australian outback, a Telecom technician walks away from the maintenance work he is carrying out on a cable. It is midday. The man pushes back his hat and wipes the sweat from his brow. He pauses for a moment to get his bearings. Then he fixes his gaze on a particular direction and prays. Eight hours later in a small town in Scotland, a mother looks at her watch. She has been feeding her baby who has now fallen asleep in her arms. She looks out at the white covering of snow. A few people struggle along the pavement. A car tentatively inches its way along the road. Lifting her gaze to the sky, she prays. I bear witness, O my God, that thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee. I testify, at this moment, to my powerlessness and to Thy might, to my poverty and to Thy wealth. There is none other God but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting. (1) Around the globe every day, millions of Bahá'ís stop what they are doing for these few seconds to say this short noon-day obligatory prayer. There are two longer alternative to this short prayer - Bahá'ís choose which ever one they wish. Peasants in remote villages, executives of big companies, women working at home raising their children, pensioners, students, rich and poor, lifelong Bahá'ís and those new in the religion, all are united at these moments when they stop and turn their working-day thoughts to God. The Bahá'í Faith is not overloaded with 'do's' and 'don'ts'. The saying of a daily obligatory prayer is a spiritual law and a matter between the individual's conscience and God. Nonetheless, the keeping of this law is essential to spiritual well-being. The question of prayer in the Bahá'í Faith and in all major religions comes down to mankind's recognition of God. If people don't 'speak' to God-in the form of prayer and meditation-then they are not keeping an important channel of communication open. Whether we think that prayer and meditation are important or not also depends on our idea of human nature. If people's basic needs are only physical ones, then prayer becomes little more than a relaxation technique. If, however, people have a spiritual side to them which is at least as important as the physical side, then perhaps prayer is a way of feeding it and keeping it healthy. Bahá'u'lláh teaches that prayer and meditation are 'food' for the spirit. In the same way as a person's spirit can be uplifted by beautiful music, touched to the core by poetry or literature, excited and inspired by a painting, it is fed by prayer and meditation. Bahá'u'lláh recommends prayer in the following passage; Intone, O My Servant, the verses of God that have been received by thee, as intoned by them who have drawn nigh unto Him, that the sweetness of their melody may kindle thine own soul, and attract the hearts of all men. Whoso reciteth, in the privacy of his chamber, the verses revealed by God, the scattering angels of the Almighty shall scatter abroad the fragrance of the words uttered by his mouth, and shall cause the heart of every righteous man to throb. (2) From what Bahá'u'lláh says, it seems that prayer can lift our souls into the world of the spirit. This in turn allows us to tap into God's unlimited power, love and energy-the very things which will give us the strength to change our lives. PRIORITIES Many of us lead such busy, hectic lives that it can be hard to recognise the importance and depth of prayer. It is a sad sign of the times that people are turning away from spiritual values and are adopting materialistic goals instead. People are encouraged to spend, spend, spend. Adverts push flashy cars, the latest fashion in clothes, and the most up-to-date hi-fi equipment. The list is endless. Affording all this takes a lot of money, and raising cash is what many people's lives revolve around. Money has replaced God on many peoples' list of priorities but does it actually bring happiness or fulfilment? And what about those people at the 'bottom of the pile' who have no share in the consumer society? It is possible that many poor people in all countries feel that there is no hope for the future and do not feel that they have any stake in society. No wonder they feel frustrated and bitter! Many better-off people are no happier. There is no contentment in this way of life. Bahá'u'lláh's great grandson, Shoghi Effendi, wrote about this problem in a letter, parts of which are printed below: Indeed, the chief reason for the evils now rampant in society is the lack of spirituality. ... The spirit of the age, taken on the whole, is irreligious. Man's outlook on life is too crude and materialistic to enable him to elevate himself into the higher realms of the spirit. . . For the core of religious faith is the mystic feeling which unites man with God. This state of spiritual communion can be brought about and maintained by means of meditation and prayer. . . Its [the Bahá'í Faith's] chief goal is the development of the individual and society, through the acquisition of spiritual virtues and powers. It is the soul of man which has first to be fed. (3) Discussion-Bahá'u'lláh teaches that many of the world's problems are spiritual in nature, e.g. the crisis over the environment has occurred because we are exploiting the earth for a quick profit without any concern for the planet or the people who live on it. The forces behind this are greed and materialism. Do you agree with this idea or do you think that pollution is a physical problem which needs physical solutions? HOW DO BAHÁ'ÍS PRAY AND ABOUT WHAT? It's sometimes easy to say a prayer out loud or silently without really concentrating properly or thinking about it. It is hard to shut your mind off completely from whatever may be going on around you; someone answering a phone in a nearby room, or a car passing. But we do need to just take a few minutes each day for prayerful contemplation, in other words for meditation-speaking to our spirits. The Báb recommended that people pray in private: The reason why privacy hath been enjoined in moments of devotion is this, that thou mayest give thy best attention to the remembrance of God, that thy heart may at all times be animated with this Spirit, and not be shut out as by a veil from thy Best Beloved. (4) There are no Bahá'í priests or ministers so there is no equivalent to the congregational prayers practised by followers of many other Faiths. The Báb, Bahá'u'lláh and 'Abdu'l-Bahá have all revealed many prayers which Bahá'ís can use for private or group worship. You will find a small selection of these at the end of this unit, but apart from the daily obligatory prayers, there is no set routine or ritual associated with praying. Indeed, 'Abdu'l-Bahá says that 'Prayer need not be in words, but rather in thought and attitude'. (5) Saying a prayer with sincerity and a depth of feeling is far more important than spending hours and hours at it. The Báb said that: Its [prayer's] prolongation hath not been and is not beloved by God. The more detached and purer the prayer, the more acceptable it is in the presence of God. (6) In another passage Bahá'u'lláh writes One hour's reflection is preferable to seventy years of pious worship. (7) So clearly we have to think deeply about what we are saying and then work out how this relates to our lives. 'Abdu'l-Bahá was talking about this subject when he said that: Through the faculty of meditation man attains to eternal life; through it he receives the breath of the Holy Spirit-the bestowal of the Spirit is given in reflection and meditation..... Meditation is the key for opening the doors of mysteries. In that state man abstracts himself from all outside objects; in that subjective mood he is immersed in the ocean of spiritual life and can unfold the secrets of things-in-themselves. (8) The way in which a Bahá'í meditates though is completely left up to him or her. There are no set forms of meditation prescribed in the (Bahá'í) teachings. The friends are urged-nay enjoined-to pray and they should also meditate, but the manner of doing the latter is left entirely to the individual. . . (9) BAHÁ'Í HOUSES OF WORSHIP As mentioned before, there are no Bahá'í clergy and there are also no churches. There are however Bahá'í Temples, sometimes called Houses of Worship. At present there is one in each continent but eventually there will be a House of Worship in every local community. Bahá'í Temples are dedicated to the Unity of God, the Unity of all His Prophets, and the Unity of all Humankind. They are simple in basic design and welcome peoples of all Faiths and nations who wish to come and pray or perhaps just to enjoy their atmosphere of quiet tranquillity and peace. There are photographs of Bahá'í Temples which you can view by clicking here. Discussion-There is very little ritual in the Bahá'í Faith. This refers as much to prayer as to other parts of the religion. The reason is that rituals can become an end in themselves rather than a tool to help us become spiritual. For example, people will cling to and carry out ceremonies for the sake of it even when they have forgotten the meaning behind them. Religious truths can become buried under layers of ritual and habit which then become excuses for argument and division. How do you feel about this? Do you think that ritual has an important part to play in modern religion or does it distract us from the teachings of the Messengers? FURTHER ACTIVITIES 1. Read through the Bahá'í Prayers which follow. What feeling do you get from each of them? O my God, O my God! Unite the hearts of Thy servants, and reveal to them Thy great purpose. May they follow Thy commandments and abide in Thy law. Help them, O God, in their endeavour, and grant them strength to serve Thee. O God, leave them not to themselves, but guide their steps by the light of Thy knowledge, and cheer their hearts by Thy love. Verily, thou art their Helper and their Lord. (10) O Lord, my God, Assist Thy loved ones to be firm in Thy Faith, to walk in Thy ways, to be steadfast in Thy Cause, Give them Thy grace to withstand the onslaught of self and passion, to follow the light of Divine Guidance. Thou art the Powerful, the Gracious, the Self-Subsisting, the Bestower, the Compassionate, the Almighty, the All-Bountiful. (11) O God! Rear this little babe in the bosom of Thy love and give it milk from the breast of Providence. Cultivate this fresh plant in the rose-garden of Thy love and nurture it by showers from the clouds of Providence. Make it a child of the Kingdom and lead it to the divine world. Thou art powerful and kind! Thou art the Giver, the Bestower, Whose blessings transcend all else. (12) 2. Have a look at the enclosed pictures of Bahá'í Houses of Worship. Make a list of their similarities and their differences. Find out about the other buildings which will surround them in future. REFERENCES
BIBLIOGRAPHY 'Abdu'l-Bahá quoted in Bahá'u'lláh and the New Era, An Introduction to the Bahá'í Faith by J.E.. Esselmont. Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1970 Báb Selections from the Writings of the Báb. Compiled by The Research Department of the Universal House of Justice and translated by Habib Taherzadeh with the assistance of a Committee at the Bahá'í World Centre, Haifa: Bahá'í World Centre, Bahá'u'lláh Bahá'í Prayers, A Selection and Bahá'í Prayers for Special Occasions. London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1967 -Kitáb-í-Iqán, The Book of Certitude. trans. by Shoghi Effendi. London: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, ed. 1961 Shoghi Effendi Spiritual Foundations: Prayer, Meditation and the Devotional Attitude, Extracts from the Writings of Bahá'u'lláh, the Báb, 'Abdu'l-Bahá and Shoghi Effendi. Compiled by the Research Department of the Universal House of Justice. Wilmette, Illinois: Bahá'í Publishing Trust, 1980 We would like to thank the Herald of the South Magazine for their kind permission to base part of this unit on an article appearing in a previous issue of the magazine. | ||