I'd never heard of it before today - is someone here able to tell me what it's about?

googling out of interest got mer here...http://www.bahai.org/

I am not Baha'i but I grew up near a Baha'i temple.... which is pretty lucky as there is only one on each continent.


Like I said I am really not an authority - so it would be better to hear it from someone who was but my understanding is that Baha'i is based on a philosophy that Jesus, Muhamad, Buddha etc are all equal and there messages are all valid because they are all messages from God.

But their teachings are from a philosopher (cant remember his name - something linked to Baha'i).


Anyway I have been to two Baha'i temples - the one in Australia which is nice.

BUT the one in Delhi is just amazing! (to look at). It similar in style to the Sydney Operah house except in the shape of a lotus. It is pretty awesome to experience.

there are some pictures here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bah%C3%A1'...ouse_of_Worship

I think Blish follows this faith?

Hi there,

Yes, I am a Baha'i.

In a nutshell, Baha'is follow the teachings of Baha'u'llah. We believe Baha'u'llah is the Manifestation of God for today. ie: unlike what a previous poster said, we don't see him as a philosopher; moreso he has the same "status" or importance as previous Manifestations/Prophets/Messengers of God (however you wish to refer to them); just that his teachings are relevant for this period in time.

Baha'is believe that all the major religions are like chapters of the one book, so as a Baha'i, you believe in Buddha, Krishna, Zoaraster, Abraham, Moses, Christ, Muhammad and the Bab too - that they all shared a similar message of love and peace but differed in their social teachings...ie: as humanity has evolved, the social teachings brought by each Messenger have changed to suit that present time (ie: not eating pork, the status of women and so on).

The basic principles of the Baha'i Faith include:

• The oneness of mankind.

• Universal peace upheld by a world government.

• Independent investigation of truth.

• The common foundation of all religions.

• The essential harmony of science and religion.

• Equality of men and women.

• Elimination of prejudice of all kinds.

• Universal compulsory education.

• A spiritual solution to the economic problem.

• A universal auxiliary language.

Baha'is have no clergy, but we do have a worldwide system of governance and believe that this is how the world government will operate in the future (local, national and international levels of representation, voted for by the constituents).

So basically as a Baha'i, you believe that all of mankind are united as one family, that it doesn't matter what race, gender, religion or age you are - we are all "flowers of one garden" and our goal is to unite the world through the teachings of Baha'u'llah and by nurturing our spirituality.

Feel free to ask anything else.

And for the record, I am by no means the world's most perfect Baha'i...just following life's journey like everyone else, but I do believe that this concept of the religions all being "one" does, for me, provide the only way to world peace (just my 2 cents worth).

That's interesting, Blish.

Do you have 'services' or ceremonies, etc? What happens in the services?

My children do Baha'i at school and I am interested in learning more about it!
I live near the temple in Sydney and it is beautiful!

Blish - one thing I could not find out was without clergy do they actually have services as such or can you just rock up to the temple and pray/contemplate etc as you will! I was unable to find out anything about it on the website!

I would like to take the kids up there these holidays and was wondering if you knew!

Thanks!

We have no churches. (We do have 7 or 8 temples throughout the world, which are places where anyone, from any background is welcome to come in and meditate/pray/worship in their own way. "Sermons" are not given in these).

We have no ritualised ceremonies either. The only things I can think of are when a couple are getting married, they have to recite this one line "We will all verily abide by the will of God" - they can do whatever else they like in the marriage service, they just have to include this line. And there's a special prayer to be recited at a funeral.

Baha'is attend what's called a "Feast" once every 19 days. These are usually held in someone's home, or in the case of a large community, in a hired hall. There are 3 parts to a Feast; the spiritual part - where writings of any of the religions are read and prayers are said; the administrative part - where the local elected body (which is a group of 9 people over the age of 21 voted for annually by the local Baha'i community) reads out any letters or advises the community of any upcoming events etc and the community can raise issues with the group; the social part - where we eat and chat.
These gatherings are informal and organised by the community - so lets' say the next Feast was going to be in my house, I'd just select a few prayers and writings to be read and buy some refreshments and that would be it.

There are no other ceremonies or services.

Thanks Blish, that is what I thought!

OK, well then I will take the girls up there and have a look and see how I feel after that! Sounds very informal and "right" IYKWIM....just a nice wholehearted embracing of all the culture in the world! Sweet!

The feasts sound interesting! Thanks for sharing.

If Baha'is believe all major religions are true, what about where the religions contradict each other? EG, Hinduism says there are many gods, Christianity/Islam/Judaism says there's one God. Or Jesus saying that he was the only way to God? Or the commandment to 'love no other gods but me', etc?

Yep - feel free to "rock up"

The Baha'i temples are open to the public. They are there for anyone to come in and pray, meditate, contemplate. I do believe the Baha'i Community in Mona Vale (where the temple is) do conduct a service on the weekend which includes a choir and readings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah and other Faiths.

Actually, just found this on the Australian Baha'i website:



Oh, and don't feel scared of going - Baha'is are forbidden to prozelytise (to ear bash you). If you ask questions, obviously we can answer; but we are not trying to convert you...one of the fundamental teachings of the Faith is "independent investigation of truth", meaning one should study and find what's true for themselves rather than blindly follow what others say.

Found this about the temple service:

Wow, there's a choir! I wonder what sort of music they sing.

Another question, sorry, how does the faith decide which other religions to incorporate? Or does it believe all religions have truth? If not, what are the criteria for a religion to be included in what Bahai's see as truth?

We believe there is only one God - the same creative force that everybody else follows in all the other religions. We call it "God", but we believe it's an unknowable essence, not a person as such.

In regards to the Hindu Faith, we believe that this was just a way for uneducated people to have the various aspects of God to explained to them, ie: Shiva was known as the destroyer and that demonstrates the power of God and there are other "faces" of God described in the Hindu faith that represents something all powerful, all knowing, all compassionate, all wise, all bountiful. So statues or images of God were developed to represent these many facets of God.

As Man has progressed, the way of explaining God to mankind has changed over time to suit the understanding of the people.

So Baha'is believe that all the Messengers/Prophets were talking about the same God, one God.

Where Jesus says he is the only way to God, we believe he is referring to his station as a Manifestation of God. So the only way to know God (or to fulfil one's spiritual potential to put it another way) is through learning the teachings of the Manifestation of God and he was the Mainfestation of God for THAT day.

I hope this helps (?)

It sounds wonderful!

That's a really interesting question. I guess the main criteria is that there's a founder who brings teachings and laws to the world (every 1000 years or so) and this set of teachings/laws is considered sacred by his followers. Each one brings a new set of social laws. We incorporate all the major great Faiths of the world, not off-shoots of a religion.

Baha'u'llah says there is an ancient cycle of Prophets, whose names have been lost in time but whose people's around the world remember them (ie: in Aboriginal lore, African people's, Native Americans for example)

In the modern cycle of Prophets, there is:
Abraham (Sabaean religion)
Krishna (Hindu religion)
Buddha (Buddhist religion)
Zoaraster (the Parsees)
Moses (Judaism)
Jesus Christ (Christianity)]
Muhammad (Islam)
The Bab (Babi Faith)
Baha'u'llah (Baha'i Faith)

And we believe there will be more over time, but the next one won't come for another 1,000 years (give or take).

The choir only ever sings words from the Holy Scriptures of the great religions of the world. There are no musical instruments either, only voices.

The only words allowed to be stated publicly in the Temple are the words from the world's holy books - so there's no speech, no talk, no welcome - just the choir singing (words from the scriptures) and people getting up and reading readings and prayers from the various religions.

There is a structured program of course and you're handed a program at the door; so it's not that people get up if they want to and speak - there's a set, organised program.

This is during a service though - any other time, it's just a quiet room where you can go in and meditate/pray quietly.

I heard that one day Kamahl was visiting the temple and thought the choir were so great he approached the choir mistress afterwards to ask if they could sing with them and for a few years after that, he came and sang the Lord's Prayer with the Baha'i choir.

I've only ever been there as a baby!

Blish that is really interesting. I am a baptised Catholic, but I have always believed ( and teach my catholic children) that all religion is based on the same believs and every persons God is just the manifestation of the same true God.

I never knew there was an actual formal group based on what I believe.

We have a Baha'i Centre of Learning here in Hobart. Maybe I will have to investigate.

http://www.tasbcl.com.au/

Looks like I'll be up there on Sunday then! WOW thanks for all that Blish! I am very interested!

I think, just based on the overview that I've read, that this belief system is probably the most similar to my own that I've ever found. It'd be great to talk to some Baha'i in my area (NW Brisbane) and find out more - does anyone know of a local group nearby or where I can find one?

Alskling - there's some links for more info or to find your local Baha'i community on the Australian Baha'i website:

Australian Baha'i Website

ETA: Here's a more specific link for info. I know Natalie - she's nice!

You can ask her about the Brisbane community.



or you can contact the Brisbane Baha'i Centre of Learning (07) 3367 3303 (in Milton)

the site tells me there is one in the redlands too... interesting

Blish, do Baha'i followers tend to be predominantly from one particular culture or area? It started in the Middle East, right? Just curious about your own heritage, were your parents Baha'is, or their parents?

Quite an educational thread

I am 5th generation Australian. My parents were Baptists and were introduced to the Baha'i Faith in the 1960's. My Dad joined the Faith first and then my Mum a few years later. My Dad went to many Baha'i functions trying to save their souls, to convert the Baha'is to Christ and trying to prove them wrong, and ended up joining

My Mums parents were not religious and my Dad's parents were Baptists.

As a child growing up in the Baha'i community, there's no baptism or enrolment process of any kind. Baha'i children are considered members of the Faith until they turn 15, when they get to decide for themselves if they wish to continue being considered Baha'is or not. There's no hurry though - the Faith is all about private search for truth and it is very much an individual journey. I did choose to join the Faith on my 15th birthday - it just made sense to me. I admit I'm not the most active Baha'i (ie: I don't go to all the Feasts), but that's OK...there's nobody judging you for your attendance or anything like that.

To answer your question, the Baha'i Faith originated in Persia (Iran) so yes there are many Persian Baha'is, although the Baha'i Faith is the second most widespread religion in the world, so there are Baha'is from every background. If you go to a Baha'i gathering in Australia, though, you will usually find quite a few Persian people. This is because Baha'is are persecuted back in Iran. They are denied basic freedoms, not allowed to have jobs in government and often are imprisoned, tortured or even killed for their Faith. So many have fled to Australia as refugees and as is the human way, people like to congregate together with people of similar backgrounds, so if you go to a Baha'i function you'll often find a large proportion of the group are from Iran...and they are some of the loveliest, most hospitable people you could ever meet.

Baha'is worldwide are from every conceivable background - I love going to big Baha'i gatherings and meeting people from all walks of life who were raised in all different Faiths, all coming together.

Edited for typos

Thought this article about Rainn Wilson might interest you (??)

(He stars in the US version of The Office)

Article Here

Very interesting, thanks!

I have just found this thread and find it very interesting. Just wondering what are there views on sex before marriage, sex, and drinking? Just curious....

Hi Busted,

Sex outside of marriage is not allowed, nor is drinking alcohol (unless prescribed by a doctor).

I know these are deal breakers for many!

Feel free to ask any other questions.

Edited for typo

wow interesting topic. thanks for posting it up OP and replying Blish.