cire perdue

It amazes me of the amount of knowledge that i am able to experience at this Forum. Recently I found due to someone's help here that I, MARY MAGDALENE was online. I somehow thought it would always be out of my reach and may have been myth. Now it is almost overwhelming, but I remember a time where I could peruse the inventory of the Baha'i Publishing Trust and aspired that by only a few more purchases would have all that was available. There was so little available, but I was a Baha'i nonetheless. That there has been so little has to mean that it is the Spirit that attracts us and the heart that receives it. Oh we do fight that, don't we?

Now I relate my earliest experiences as a Baha'i to that of early Christians who had so few numbers and no more than word of mouth to teach the Word of Christ. It is obvious that all the scholarly knowledge and studies are mere side effects of this Revelation and not the point. They are wonderful, but for the majority of people they don't exist, not really.

I remain so disappointed at intellectuals who have pointedly boycotted the Ruhi Courses probably for the fact that they are NOT intellectual exercises and to me actually can provide a spiritual experience. I know from counseling that those of us who live in the head/intellect would rather croak than deal with feelings/heart or intuition. I don't think it matters how smart one is if they do not have a heart that can balance that. One however must not make spiritual experience something that is mysterious, overwhelming, or rare. We have a spiritual experience anytime we are uplifted by prayer, when we leave a meeting more uplifted than when we came. Having not had a good experience with early Ruhi, when I was able to take it again, it was a spiritual experience that I could relate to like a being in a 12 step meeting and having self realizations and understanding bloom. There were no fireworks, but ideas and a feeling of spirit were in my mind and there was no need to tell anyone, as I am pretty sure it was an experience we were all having. This is the point! Ruhi is more spiritual than anything other than prayer that I know of. It requires use of our powerlessness and not the intellect. Yep I bet there are some intellectuals who boycott it. Quelle domage, what a waste!

cire perdue

"One source of injustice throughout history has been the arbitrary and dictatorial use of power by individuals who have "accounted themselves as superior in knowledge." One of the most remarkable aspects of Baha'u'llah's divinely conceived Administrative Order is the distinction between the "learned" and the "rulers"--a distinction which will rid society of this source of injustice. The Universal House of Justice explains:
In a letter written on 14 March 1927 to the Spiritual Assembly of the Baha'is of Isanbul, the Guardian's Secretay explained, on his behalf, the principle in the Cause of action by majority vote. He pointed out how, in the past, it was certain individuals who "accounted themselves as superioor in knowledge and elevated in position" who caused division , and that it was those "who pretended to be the most distinguished of all" who "alwlays proved themselves to be the source of contention." "But praise be to God," he cotinued, "that the Pen of Glory has done away with the unyielding and dictatorial views of the learned and the wise, dismissed the assertions of individuals as an authoritative criterion, even though they were recognized as the most accomplished and learned among men and ordained that all matters be referrred to authorized centers and specified assemblies. Even so, no assembly has been invested with the absolute authority to deal with such general matters as affect the interests of nations. Nay rather, He has brought all the asemblies together under the shadow of one House of Justice, one divinely-appointed Center, so that there would be only one Center and all the rest integrated into a single body, revolving around one expressly-designated Pivot, thus making them all proof against schism and division."

"The existence of institutions of such exalted rank comprising individuals who play such a vital role, who yet have no legislative, administrative or judicial authority, and are entirely devoid of priestly functions or the right to make authoritative interpretations, is a feature of Baha'i administration unparalleled in the religions of the past. The newness and uniqueness of this concept make it difficult to grasp; only as the Baha'i Community grows and the believers are increasingly able to contemplate its administrative structure uninfluenced by concepts from past ages, will the vital inter-dependence of the "rulers" and "learned" in the Faith be properly understood, and the inestimable value of their interaction be fully recognized." " p. 149-150