Transform the Struggle (audio)

This is one of my older talks on spiritual transformation.

Most people (religion, spirituality, and transformation)--excerpts from a letter

Positive attitude or spiritual transformation? In transformation, or transmutation, you confront the darkness or fear within you, bring the light to it, and then it becomes 'light'. For me, a positive attitude is not something I create to cover my inner feelings of struggle or insecurity. I believe it is best to actually transform the inner feeling so the spiritual light we ingest becomes our deep reality. It is the process of transmutation and turning the darkness into light. Most people create a false self that is then plastered over the inner dark self with all its guilt, hurt, resentment, fears, and desires. Then we relate superficially and materialistically. We become cut off from ourselves and from others, but don't realize it, because everyone else is doing the same thing.

Most people have felt pressure to conform their whole life, and they just want freedom to live from a place of ownership and choice, and find their own voice. True religion, however, entails surrender of the very self most people are struggling to create. Religion and religious practice can also be used as a component of that self-created life, but I would not call this spirituality, or true religion. We do need to exercise our free will, and choose to surrender to His will, and we do this with full ownership and conscious awareness, and we do it because we see His beauty with our own eyes. We know of course, God owns our soul as well as our will--for He created us. And that sits right with me.

Most people want worldly security, and religion or religious community (following the group patterns, learning the methods, acquiring the knowledge, trusting the leaders, socializing, serving) provides that for them. They feel better about themselves and the inner guilt and inadequacy is silenced and successfully suppressed. This is not transformation, however. This is not a new spiritual life. To me, this is just conformity, another way to feel secure by fitting in with a group of people.

I grew up with no religion or spirituality, but ironically it contributed to me staying open-minded about religion and the idea of God. I approached the God question rationally initially, but I also had an open and sensitive heart, so I was able to apprehend His presence in Scripture at age 17.

I realized from that moment on that most people who follow a religion are doing it in a way that actually prevents them from communing with God. They are following the dictates and patterns of a group of people and this gives a sense of security for the ego self, just like any other worldly security. You feel like you fit in and you follow the leader or the group and it becomes another worldly attachment. If you do what is taught, you feel worthy and acceptable (you successfully cover your inner inadequacy and insecurities); if you deviate, you feel guilty and wrong. Problem is, what the group or the leaders tell you is not what Baha'u'llah taught, it's only their interpretation, and it is partial at best. What you end up putting your trust in is a charismatic personality, acquired knowledge, leadership skills. Our trust should be in Baha'u'llah.

Most people only see the truth of Scriptures according to their capacity or through the filter of their personal desires and agendas. When one truly surrenders to God, life changes: there is an experience of being transported; a new life emerges--this is being born again in the Spirit, by the Spirit, and it happens in the Baha'i Faith as well as in Christianity. Of course it is a constant struggle to remain detached and spiritual, and to be transcendent and in communion with God; and as well we must struggle to obey the social and material laws...

some Baha'i Writings:

"We must strive to attain to that condition (spiritual condition in which communion with God becomes possible) by being separated from all things and from the people of the world and by turning to God alone. It will take some effort on the part of man to attain to that condition, but he must work for it, strive for it. We can attain to it by thinking and caring less for material things and more for the spiritual. The further we go from the one, the nearer we are to the other. The choice is ours.

Our spiritual perception, our inward sight must be opened, so that we can see the signs and traces of God's spirit in everything. Everything can reflect to us the light of the Spirit."

--words of 'Abdu'l-Baha reported in Baha'u'llah and the New Era

"It behoveth him who is a wayfarer in the path of God and a wanderer in His way to detach himself from all who are in the heavens and on the earth. He must renounce all save God, that perchance the portals of mercy may be unlocked before his face and the breezes of providence may waft over him. And when he hath inscribed upon his soul that which We have vouchsafed unto him of the quintessence of inner meaning and explanation, he will fathom all the secrets of these allusions, and God shall bestow upon his heart a divine tranquillity and cause him to be of them that are at peace with themselves."

--Baha’u’llah, Gems of Divine Mysteries (Javahiru’l-Asrar) (Haifa, Baha’i World Centre, 2002 edition) Pp. 25-26.

"The world is but a show, vain and empty, a mere nothing, bearing the semblance of reality. Set not your affections upon it. Break not the bond that uniteth you with your Creator, and be not of those that have erred and strayed from His ways. Verily I say, the world is like the vapor in a desert, which the thirsty dreameth to be water and striveth after it with all his might, until when he cometh unto it, he findeth it to be mere illusion. It may, moreover, be likened unto the lifeless image of the beloved whom the lover hath sought and found, in the end, after long search and to his utmost regret, to be such as cannot 'fatten nor appease his hunger.'"

--Baha'u'llah, Gleanings p. 328

My old Baha'i letters compilation

(letter to a friend, with prayer and verses, 'experience it', from 12/7/00):

"O thou handmaid aflame with the fire of God's love! Grieve thou not over the troubles and hardships of this nether world, nor be thou glad in times of ease and comfort, for both shall pass away. This present life is even as a swelling wave, or a mirage, or drifting shadows. Could ever a distorted image on the desert serve as refreshing waters? No, by the Lord of Lords! Never can reality and the mere semblance of reality be one, and wide is the difference between fancy and fact, between truth and the phantom thereof.

Know thou that the Kingdom is the real world, and this nether place is only its shadow stretching out. A shadow hath no life of its own; its existence is only a fantasy, and nothing more; it is but images reflected in water, and seeming as pictures to the eye." ('Abdu'l-Baha, Fire & Gold pp184-185)

...We need meetings which are more than intellectual rhetoric, and more than an old world order attempt to create a spiritual reality. We need to actually have the spirit, and that takes authentic human beings who are in touch with the spirit of God! These people need to be actually quickened by the Spirit of God--Oh Lord help us do this, please God help us, please God, we need your spirit to save the souls from the slough of materialism and intellectualism and pride and closed-mindedness, and ignorance and illusion--Oh, God, open their hearts to the actual, living, breathing reality of Your Actual presence and Love and Comfort--not encased by proud shells, stale rhetoric of minds scarred by old world tactics and old game-playing based on old world business and competition and fear and ego and separation--no, no, God! Why should we succumb to ego and separation, when we have the real thing, the Love of God, the authentic, living breathing vehicles of aware, awake, human beings--soft, open to your Love, empty vessels willing to be filled with the real Spiritual power inside the heart of Love, of Baha'u'llah!!

We should not close out personal experience and feeling. This must be dynamic and vital, and must come from the open heart of beings in a receptive mode as well as transmissive and expressive. We need to align with God, emptied of this nether world! ____, please join in--we must win the hearts of the hardened, we must win souls in the faith and outside the Faith! We must truly fight as warriors, as Spiritual Dawnbreakers with a mission so high, it can revolutionize the world! Please join with me and ____ and ____ and ____, and whoever else can stay in this spirit, and not sway us from the Truth--because many within the faith will want to kill our spirit; but many will join us when they see that what we have is real, deep, and authentic, and we are not playing games in the old world order--we want to build the new... I know the others mean well, they are doing good things, they just don't have all the answers they think they have. They don't see the wider reality. We can show them what they are missing, when we consolidate, and focus on the actual spirit of God--not just talk about it. Can you access the actual spirit of God, and commune with his presence, and pray to Baha'u'llah, and really feel His presence, and see His Oneness, and feel it in your being? It is peace, it is faith, it is Love, it is unity, it is humility, it is patience. It is open to all people, it is knowledge.

Okay, I'm losing energy here. I know my ego is involved a bit, here, at least I admit it. Yes, I need people, I'm not fully detached. But God put the fire in my heart, and this is where I am. I need help, yes, I am weak. But God sent us here to unite, and to desire to unite. Yes, I have some pride--but we all do, and God can work with that, as we recognize His Supreme Power and Authority!! Ya-Baha'u'l-Abha! Please pray for me, and thanks for your sincere spirit.


(letter to friend, from 5/30/05, 'face feelings' ):

____, I feel stifled in certain environments that don't honor and acknowledge deeper feelings, including the hidden needs, fears, hurts we all have inside, and also the physical needs and bodily sensations. These environments are focused on intellectual disciplines and methodologies to the exclusion of body and emotions. This is the influence of our culture--it is not balanced nor holistic. I am interested in redressing the balance, and bringing in awareness of and working with the emotions and the body, so that we have complete humans who can experience all of what God has given us to experience. I think you understand very well what I am saying, and I thank you and God that you understand. Let's continue to be that leaven for the community.

I guess I have my limits, and if I spend too much time with certain people in certain environments, I lose my focus, my connection with God, and I can't be loving or helpful anymore. I needed to take a walk in the park and get back to God, and FEEL my feelings, and breathe through my body, and feel and experience more parts of my God-given vehicle for the life-force--the spirit-body. I had to take my negative energy, and just feel it inside without projecting it onto others, and just talk to God and let myself feel the feelings of need, aloneness, hurt and how I just want love and connection with people and with God. I acknowledged my remoteness from God and that I was not loving, and that I want love and I want to feel love and peace and joy. I just felt my feelings, let them flow, did not project them or blame anyone else for my suffering. When I did this, I felt God's presence--I did the work of facing my feelings without blaming--I guess it is called 'owning' my pain. Then I felt transformed and free. I could not do this in the other environment. Then I felt that I wanted to share this and I wanted companionship, but then even that is a desire, and I was closer to God then, so I could work with those painful emotions more easily. It is a constant dance and unfolding...


(letter to a friend, 'wave of the spirit', from 8/6/01):

...I am trying to encourage cell groups of a few people who trust each other, and feel comfortable with each other, to begin to explore the areas in their lives that need transforming and spiritualizing. We need to empty our worldly egos and the roles and acts we play for the world, and begin to access and receive the Holy Spirit through the Word and through prayer. I have come across some amazing Christian sermons, and I must tell you--Christians blow us away as far as being filled with the Holy Spirit, and getting to the point of what people need for healing and transformation. They've been doing it for decades. We're generally stuck in this intellectual, business-like, proper, white, middle-class, professional consciousness, and we can barely move out of it. Now, I realize we are making some growth--you can see that we are moving, and many of us are aware of the present limitations, and many of see where we have to go. But there needs to be a powerful force, or movement in the community--kind of like they have in Christianity--a wave of the Holy Spirit radiating from one, two, or several souls. These souls will ignite others, and the fire will spread. Or we can do cell groups, all linked by the same Spirit of God, and the cell groups will start with one or two, and they will divide and grow, and occupy the same organism--the body of Baha, if you will. Of course it will soon spread to the greater community, and we will see entry by troops.

I can't say exactly how it will happen. We know we have the guidance from the UHJ, in the five-year plan. There's a lot we can do. I have my own personal goals and vision. I will enlist any I find who are compatible with my goals, according to my gifts and talents, and their gifts and talents. We have to link people together. If we can't get everybody together, at least we can get together those who are already friends to begin to become more focused on God, on the Word, on prayer, on transformation. So if you get together for coffee, or a movie, how about instead talk about the spiritual world, or what problems you're having that prevent you from experiencing the love of God? We have a lot of layers of worldly conditioning to work through. It is purification and cleansing. Sometimes only tests will serve to motivate the person to cut his attachment to something, or impel him to turn to God with fervent prayer and supplication, or stimulate his deeper consciousness, or cause him to attempt to look at himself and life from a different angle.

There are levels of consciousness in each one of us which are untapped and which could provide limitless experience of the divine. Some of these levels cannot be tapped unless we are inspired in a group setting with spiritual music and devotions. Then we must hold onto it, nurture and cultivate those higher awarenesses of God, and ourselves. We must not be afraid to look into ourselves, our egos--our identity--what do we show to the world--how can that be different if we had support systems that nurtured true spiritual growth, instead of the present system, which nurtures worldliness and comformity and separation and hiding our feelings and playing roles for this world. Inside is a mine of gems suited for a new world, which we must work together to create...


(two excerpts from letter to friends, 'One Light', and 'struggle of self'):

...I know your life is complicated. I wish I could convey to you the importance of clinging to God, to His Cause, to the hope of ultimate victory, to the vision of service in His Cause. It is that One Light that shines constantly amidst all the tumult and turmoil of this nether world, all the melodramas of this passing, ephemeral world; all the power games, the judgments, the cruelties, the ignorance of all the people that dwell here on earth. There is that one Point of Light, of Hope, that is expanded in fantastic Glory, and with it comes all the Hope and Joy and True Life, and all of Reality exists in It, and only in It. All else will pale in comparison to Its Wondrous Glory!


____, I know you want to remove the struggle of self, and the feeling of shame, guilt, or inadequacy you may feel. By actually doing the physical things which you think will be living up to the standards you feel will make you worthy, you will still not remove the struggle of self. For without having your inner being lit by the love of God, and being lifted into the Transcendent Kingdom, and soaring on the wings of the Spirit above all created things, you are still bound to the cravings of self--cravings for approval and acceptance from people perpetuating the myth that doing something outwardly in order to gain the acceptance or approval you crave will save you from your pain.

Letter to the LSA of Chapel Hill, NC

July 1, 2011

To the Local Spiritual Assembly of the Baha’is of Chapel Hill:

I write this in the spirit of inspiration, hope, frustration, yearning, honesty, insight, and constructive criticism.

"...you had asked whether the believers have the right to openly express their criticism of any Assembly action or policy: it is not only the right, but the vital responsibility of every loyal and intelligent member of the Community to offer fully and frankly, but with due respect and consideration to the authority of the Assembly, any suggestion, recommendation or criticism he conscientiously feels he should in order to improve and remedy certain existing conditions or trends in his local Community, and it is the duty of the Assembly also to give careful consideration to any such views submitted to them by any one of the believers. The best occasion chosen for this purpose is the Nineteen Day Feast, which, besides its social and spiritual aspects, fulfils various administrative needs and requirements of the Community, chief among them being the need for open and constructive criticism and deliberation regarding the state of affairs within the local Bahá'í Community.” 

-–from a letter written on behalf of Shoghi Effendi to an individual believer, Dec. 13, 1939

There is a mistaken notion in the Baha’i community that goes something like this:

"My spirituality and the progress of the Faith is solely dependent on following the teaching plans and goals of the Universal House of Justice and the other institutions of the Faith."

The UHJ and the current institutions are the administrative governing bodies of the Faith; they are not a new kind of clergy, nor have they been given the function of divine interpretation for us. Baha’u’llah is still the spiritual head, the divine mediator, and the primary source for inspiration. If we are following the UHJ’s guidance, but not following Baha’u’llah, or if we are substituting the UHJ’s letters and guidance for Baha’u’llah in our hearts and minds, then we are only practicing materialism, albeit a ‘religious’ materialism. This is but the shell of religion, when it becomes a dead thing, a mere organization. We have a community of people following laws, dictates, mandates, and performing activities, but there is no spirituality, because the followers have for the most part substituted the guidance and letters of the UHJ and other institutions for Baha’u’llah’s and ‘Abdu’l-Baha’s writings, exhortations, and spirit.

This is understandable. Baha’u’llah and ‘Abdu’l-Baha write about spirituality, being detached from this transient world of dust, and setting our hearts and minds to the heavenly Kingdom, where there is eternal life, eternal rest for the soul. But this is a supremely difficult thing to do. It is not even something that the intellect comprehends, let alone something the body can get up and do, like a task. (And we are unreservedly influenced by the materialism and worldliness of society, in which we live and thrive.) So it is natural that the community and individuals would gravitate to following injunctions, plans, methodologies, and systems of organization which are at least feasible in their minds, doable, so to speak, so they can feel a sense of accomplishment in their spiritual and religious walk in life. But this is only the administrative side of the Faith. This concerns the spreading of the teachings, and the structures and systems needed to implement this spread. As well, the UHJ and the Faith’s institutions have other administrative duties. The guidance delineated in the letters of the UHJ and other institutions are not meant to be a substitute for spiritual transformation, nor does it supply the individual and the community with the Holy Spirit, without which no life can be made new. Without this vital spiritual transformation, it is more materialism, I am afraid. If we don’t remedy the situation soon, we will have dug ourselves into a hole out of which we may not be able to climb.

from Shoghi Effendi, Directives of the Guardian, pp. 86-87:

"The problem with which you are faced is one which concerns and seriously puzzles many of our present-day youth. How to attain spirituality is indeed a question to which every young man and woman must sooner or later try to find a satisfactory answer. It is precisely because no such satisfactory answer has been given or found, that the modern youth finds itself bewildered, and is being consequently carried away by the materialistic forces that are so powerfully undermining the foundations of man's moral and spiritual life.

Indeed the chief reason for the evils now rampant in society is the lack of spirituality. The materialistic civilization of our age has so much absorbed the energy and interest of mankind that people in general do no longer feel the necessity of raising themselves above the forces and conditions of their daily material existence. There is not sufficient demand for things that we call spiritual to differentiate them from the needs and requirements of our physical existence.

The universal crisis affecting mankind is, therefore, essentially spiritual in its causes. 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.

It is this condition, so sadly morbid, into which society has fallen, that religion seeks to improve and transform. For the core of religious faith is that mystic feeling which unites Man with God. This state of spiritual communion can be brought about and maintained by means of meditation and prayer. And this is the reason why Bahá'u'lláh has so much stressed the importance of worship. It is not sufficient for a believer merely to accept and observe the teachings. He should, in addition, cultivate the sense of spirituality which he can acquire chiefly by means of prayer. The Bahá'í Faith, like all other Divine Religions, is thus fundamentally mystic in character. Its 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. And this spiritual nourishment prayer can best provide.

Laws and institutions, as viewed by Bahá'u'lláh, can become really effective only when our inner spiritual life has been perfected and transformed. Otherwise religion will degenerate into a mere organization, and becomes a dead thing. The believers, particularly the young ones, should therefore fully realize the necessity of praying. For prayer is absolutely indispensable to their inner spiritual development, and this, as already stated, is the very foundation and purpose of the religion of God."

Another consideration is this: if we only engaged in core activities as an obligation, as an attempt to ‘follow the law’ and ‘do good’, the community would be operating as a shell, and it would eventually sink into despair, since we would be paying attention only to administrative injunctions, and doing it for the sake of fortifying our competitive, individualistic egos and warding off our internal fear and guilt (although much of this happens on an unconscious level). No spirituality would accrue in our lives, no new life in the Spirit. (Being excited about and united through a shared sense of accomplishing goals is not the same as being on fire with the Holy Spirit.) Non-Baha’is would not see anything more than another dead, organized religion, albeit friendly, moral, and progressive in their thinking and attitudes. But many atheists are friendly, moral, and progressive in their thinking. We need to have our hearts filled with the Holy Spirit, we need to be motivated by the Holy Spirit, we need to be trusting God in the deepest part of our inner lives. And it will take some work to accomplish this. This work, coupled with the administrative work and the spreading of the teachings, will bring victory to our lives, the community, and the world.

There are many Christians, many of them writers, teachers, and preachers, who see similar problems in their churches. Christians have had hundreds of years to evolve and develop their communities, through trial and error, through insight and awareness, and through speaking out. The Baha’is are just trying to get this organization thing together--it is a new religion--so now there is emphasis on administrative systems and methodologies, logistics, and implementing all this to grow the Faith. The Christians, on the other hand, have great success in the spread of their teachings and gaining adherents; they have grand churches all over the world and much in the way of financial resources, so they have more time and energy to devote to the spiritual development of their members, and they can focus on spiritual transformation, devotion, healing broken hearts, bringing love and peace to the suffering, and especially helping the poor and disadvantaged with many social outreach and development programs. Although the Baha’is are making progress in the area of social outreach and development, I think we can benefit from the Christians, and learn much from them. I’m sure the Baha’is would want to at least match the other religious communities, in terms of unity, spirituality, and understanding. I’m sure we want to have all the cutting-edge insights on spirituality and transformation so the Baha’i community can progress and be a beacon of light for the waiting world.

There is a fear that if we embark on any kind of endeavor in the Baha’i community, or in our religious life, then it must be joined with the core activities, even if it is only peripherally. This is not practical, of course, for there are many things we do which are not even peripherally related to the core activities, such as private prayer, teaching the Faith to friends and family, our occupation, music, art, and any expression we make which we give to God, and the many other tasks we perform in our daily lives which we hope are seen as acceptable to Baha’u’llah. So why are we afraid to start any new kind of study group, ongoing discussions, or workshops on spiritual transformation that are not related to the Ruhi courses? I do not think it will go against God or Baha’u’llah if we gather some people together to take another shot at learning how to be spiritual and trying to apply these understandings to our lives. Yes, we could do a gathering with junior youth (but adults need to learn spiritual transformation as much as the youth do!), or we could be part of a Ruhi course, but I think some of us need to try a different approach, in order that we may inject the Holy Spirit into it.  We need to learn how to identify and overcome our attachments to the world, dismantle the barriers we have erected around our hearts, in order that we may know God, feel connected to Him, and be united with others on new levels.

Imagine what would happen if we could learn to implement some of the newer and progressive understandings of spirituality, spiritual transformation, healing broken hearts, being authentic before God, and building true community that have come from the experience of the followers of Christianity and other older religions, as well as from psychology, and other social sciences--and integrate what we discover with the soul-renewing teachings of Baha’u’llah (harmony of religion and science), and then use all this to further the plans of the UHJ. Maybe we could think of this spiritual transformation work as an adjunct, a complement, a supplement, or even a foundation to the core activities.

Until we have the Holy Spirit in our hearts, how can we expect to share it with others? Let’s not be afraid that spiritual transformation work will detract from the teaching work. Just the opposite is the case.

“The teacher, when teaching, must be himself fully enkindled, so that his utterance, like unto a flame of fire, may exert influence and consume the veil of self and passion. He must also be utterly humble and lowly so that others may be edified, and be totally self-effaced and evanescent so that he may teach with the melody of the Concourse on high -- otherwise his teaching will have no effect.”

--‘Abdu’l-Baha, Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Baha, p. 270

“It is not enough to proclaim the Bahá'í message, essential as that is. It is not enough to expand the rolls of Bahá'í membership, vital as that is. Souls must be transformed, communities thereby consolidated, new models of life thus attained. Transformation is the essential purpose of the Cause of Bahá'u'lláh, but it lies in the will and effort of the individual to achieve it in obedience to the Covenant. Necessary to the progress of this life-fulfilling transformation is knowledge of the will and purpose of God through regular reading and study of the Holy Word.”

--Universal House of Justice, from Ridvan message 146, 1989

“Not by the force of numbers, not by the mere exposition of a set of new and noble principles, not by an organized campaign of teaching -- no matter how worldwide and elaborate in its character -- not even by the staunchness of our faith or the exaltation of our enthusiasm, can we ultimately hope to vindicate in the eyes of a critical and sceptical age the supreme claim of the Abha Revelation. One thing and only one thing will unfailingly and alone secure the undoubted triumph of this sacred Cause, namely, the extent to which our own inner life and private character mirror forth in their manifold aspects the splendor of those eternal principles proclaimed by Bahá'u'lláh.”

--Shoghi Effendi, from a letter written to the believers of America, Sept. 24, 1924

“How great, therefore, how staggering the responsibility that must weigh upon the present generation of the American believers, at this early stage in their spiritual and administrative evolution, to weed out, by every means in their power, those faults, habits, and tendencies which they have inherited from their own nation, and to cultivate, patiently and prayerfully, those distinctive qualities and characteristics that are so indispensable to their effective participation in the great redemptive work of their Faith. Incapable as yet, in view of the restricted size of their community and the limited influence it now wields, of producing any marked effect on the great mass of their countrymen, let them focus their attention, for the present, on their own selves, their own individual needs, their own personal deficiencies and weaknesses, ever mindful that every intensification of effort on their part will better equip them for the time when they will be called upon to eradicate in their turn such evil tendencies from the lives and the hearts of the entire body of their fellow-citizens. Nor must they overlook the fact that the World Order, whose basis they, as the advance-guard of the future Bahá'í generations of their countrymen, are now laboring to establish, can never be reared unless and until the generality of the people to which they belong has been already purged from the divers ills, whether social or political, that now so severely afflict it.”

--Shoghi Effendi, The Advent of Divine Justice, pp. 20-21

We all know deep in our hearts, as it is clear in the Writings, that the spiritual world, the Kingdom of God, is the real world. And it is our duty to transform ourselves to be spiritual, and share the fragrance of this Spirit with others in order that they may become spiritual, heavenly, and join us in building this Kingdom here on Earth.

“The end of every (material) work is without result, because it is perishable and inconstant, but the first (real) work is attraction to the fragrance of God, enkindlement with the fire of the love of God, reading the verses of Unity and beholding the lights from the Dawning-place of Mystery. After that cometh the training of the soul, purification of character and service to humanity. If thou art able to accomplish any one of these, the result is eternal and the fruit everlasting.”

--‘Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha Abbas, Vol. 1, p. 219

“Know thou, verily, all the doors are closed except the door of the kingdom of God! All the trees are without fruit except the Tree of Life planted in the paradise of God! All the winds are disqueting to the souls except the cup of the love of God! Every benefit vanisheth except the food of heaven. It is incumbent upon thee to partake thereof.”

--‘Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha Abbas, Vol. 1, p. 229

“O maid-servant of God! Forget all else save God, be in communion with Him, supplicate and pray to Him to make thee conqueror over the material things, impressed by the bounties of the Kingdom, commemorating the name of thy Lord, pure from all else save Him, and imbued with the spiritual attributes of those who are holy (and high); then shall thy breaths have effect upon the hearts, and attract the hearts of thy son and husband unto the Kingdom of God.”

--‘Abdu’l-Baha, Tablets of ‘Abdu’l-Baha Abbas, Vol. 2, p. 247

I have high hopes for the Chapel Hill Baha’i community. I think we can be a spiritual light to the world. I believe we have that capacity. It will take work and dedication on our part, but I believe we have the tools and resources to be leaders and guides in the promulgation of the Cause of God in this day. I pray that we can accomplish this. I pray that we can open our eyes, minds, and hearts to see in new ways, move beyond the old, stale forms, and embrace new life in the spirit. In this way, we can build new bonds with each other, find new realms of love, peace, and direction in our lives, and show the world what this glorious Cause of God is really about!

In sincere service to the Cause of Baha’u’llah,

Bob Charnes

Posts from my Baha'i Yahoo! Group: Healing and Transformation

(May 16, 2001):

Some days are better than others for me. I have been struggling lately, but that is good. All this suffering has been forcing me to turn to God for comfort. This mortal, transient world provides only superficial happiness, and it is usually followed by woe. The wise man does not attach himself to this world. But alas, we live in cultures permeated by materialism, and we find ourselves craving the things of the world, and forgetful of our God, who created us. He will supply us our needs, and we should rely upon Him. But we must learn to commune with Him, and work to build a world founded on eternal principles. This is the New World Order which we have been called to create, amidst the chaos and siren voices of this crumbling old world. What a daunting task for all of us! Many of us slip into illusion, become caught in the undertow of materialism, and forget who we truly are and what we have been called to do. It is so difficult to rise above the worldly attachments we have been conditioned into, and follow that inner guidance beyond the voices of the world. Baha'u'llah has revealed His Word and His guidance. But we must filter through the worldly desires and promptings, and focus on the spiritual worlds, and let the healing power of the Holy Spirit into our minds, hearts and lives, and begin to truly transform ourselves. Let's hope we can support one another in this monumental and oh-so-urgent task.

"Whenever you see tremendous personal problems in your private lives...according to our teachings one of their wisdoms is to teach us the impermanence of this world and the permanence of the spiritual bonds that we establish with God, His Prophet, and those who are alive in the faith of God."

"O thou servant of God! Do not grieve at the afflictions and calamities that have befallen thee. All calamities and afflictions have been created for man so that he may spurn this mortal world--a world to which he is much attached. When he experienceth severe trials and hardships, then his nature will recoil and he will desire the eternal realm--a realm which is sanctified from all afflictions and calamities. Such is the case with the man who is wise. He shall never drink from a cup which is at the end distasteful, but, on the contrary, he will seek the cup of pure and limpid water. He will not taste of the honey that is mixed with poison."

In Baha'i love,
Bob


(May 24, 2001):

It's all about catching the spark and spreading the fire. We need to be attracted to God, develop a spiritual awareness, sustain and maintain that awareness, and then apply it to our material tasks in creating the New World Order. We need to be continually fed by the Spirit of Baha'u'llah, through prayer and reading the Writings. We need to create a momentum, and begin to influence others, and draw them in with love and knowledge, to the realm of transcendent reality, and create patterns of thought, behavior, relationships, work and progress based on this higher awareness, knowledge, and love. Of course, since this Reality is ever-present, and always accessible, it should be easy! But no, it is not, because the gravity of our worldly conditioning and ego impulses are constantly pulling us away from our real work. And we are working in a society created in the style of the old world order. In this society, we really need to stay aware of how we are being influenced by the materialism around us. (Read Peter Khan's talk on mental tests: http://www.bahai-library.org/talks/nature.of.tests.html.)

And we need to quickly build support systems to help us stay above water (the sea of materialism), so we can maintain and sustain the spiritual awareness of God's love, comfort, hope, wisdom, and strength. We need to learn and teach the process of change and growth. Many people are working only on the surface level, but that will not inspire entry by troops. We must be brave and truly consecrate our lives to this Revelation, and surrender ourselves, and throw ourselves into the fire of His Love. Yes, we need to access that love, and I know that is a struggle for all of us today. It will come--God will help us.

From Ridvan message 2001: "May He Who keeps watch over the destiny of His divine System guide and direct and confirm every effort you make towards the realization of the urgent tasks set before you."


(May 25, 2001):

Yes, we are influenced by the world from every direction. I have been calling on God to help me, to keep me above water. It is very lonely, even amongst Baha'is. If we could only really create a powerful force for good, that was different, that was rooted in the Spirit, and in authenticity, and honesty. We would have to be honest with ourselves, and with each other. This society teaches you to put on an act, to play a role, to deny your true feelings, to be superficial, or to follow the desires of the lower self, in order to fit into the old world order. Yet as Baha'is, we are supposed to be different. Yet, many of us don't know what to do, how to be, since all we know is what we have acquired from the world. We do need a revolutionary consciousness, as drastic as that sounds. But that is what the Word of God implies. We must re-create society. Shoghi Effendi says this in Messages to America. So we must innovate and pioneer new roles for ourselves and for the people. We have all the arts and sciences at our disposal, and all the creative energy and power of Baha'u'llah's Spirit! We have only to call upon our Lord, with fervency and urgency, and he will come to our aid!!


(May 25, 2001):

"...If a small number of people gather lovingly together, with absolute purity and sanctity, with their hearts free of the world, experiencing the emotions of the Kingdom and the powerful magnetic forces of the Divine, and being at one in their happy fellowship, that gathering will exert its influence over all the earth. The nature of that band of people, the words they speak, the deeds they do, will unleash the bestowals of Heaven, and provide a foretaste of eternal bliss. The hosts of the Company on high will defend them, and theangels of the Abha Paradise, in continuous succession, will come down to their aid."
--Selections from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, p 81.

This is the ideal. The perfume of this sentiment is powerful enough to cleanse us, if we let it. Let us not be afraid, though, to be honest with ourselves if we cannot live up to this ideal. Let us be authentic. This verse is sent to us by a Divine Will, Who understands that we are imperfect and weak. He wants us to acknowledge that we indeed are weak, but that He is strong, and if we surrender our lives to Him, He will make us strong, and we can accomplish His goals, through His spirit and power. But let us come out from our pride and worldly striving, and enter into the calm of His Grace, Wisdom and commanding Authority, and we can feel the fire of His warmth, and all the tools to transform this world are here awaiting us! This is the transformation--the surrendering of our will into His.

"Every single letter proceeding from Our mouth is endowed with such regenerative power as to enable it to bring into existence a new creation--a creation the magnitude of which is inscrutable to all save God. He verily hath knowledge of all things."

If we could only tap into that regenerative power! I hope these verses can inspire us to transcend our worldly impediments and follow the sweet Voice of the Creator, who is lovingly and firmly beckoning us to follow His mighty plan, and enter into a heavenly realm, while we walk with practical feet. It means keeping aware of this eternal, spiritual world, while being here on earth and implementing and building the machinery of an organized society--but while we have this old world around us--albeit, a crumbling old world! So the processes of integration and disintegration happen simultaneously.

"The divine spirit which finds expression in man is manifested to a limited degree in all creation. Indeed, according to Baha'u'llah, the entire physical world is a reflection of the spiritual one. This physical world is the place where human beings acquire knowledge of God and, through their relationship with Him, learn about their spiritual reality."
--Baha'u'llah's Teachings on Spiritual Reality, p 61-62

The two worlds are coherent--the spiritual is infused in the physical. So we need not be split personality. We can be spiritual while in a human body in this world! But let us remember the spiritual aspect is the higher, eternal reality, even though the world tries to convince us otherwise. Just ask the people who have gone on to the afterlife! So the Power of God is here, at our disposal, at any time, no matter where we are or what we are doing.

"The friends must realize the Power of the Holy Spirit which is manifest and quickening them at this time through the appearance of Baha'u'llah. There is no force of heaven or earth which can affect them if they place themselves wholly under the influence of the Holy Spirit and under its guidance."
--Shoghi Effendi, from The Power of Divine Assistance

Please feel free to share. I am struggling, but I gain strength from sharing and connecting with you.

Bob


(June 12, 2001):

The world is disintegrating, but thank God He has given us hope through the message of Baha'u'llah! I have been reading the new book prepared under the supervision of the UHJ called Century of Light. It is extremely inspiring. I believe this summer there will be some serious changes in the thinking of Baha'is. I will be working on it in my part of the world. I am struggling to find people who understand, but I know God will bless my efforts. Here in the Triangle area, NC, we are a focus point for large-scale growth in the Baha'i community. We have some real progressive thinkers. All we have to do is infuse them with the Spirit, and that is not easy--but God will cause it to happen in His time. I must be patient, and keep praying and making efforts. We must have the 'will to act, and the faith to persist.'

From Century of Light: "One only has to read, even cursorily, accounts of the lives of the early Baha'is in the West to become aware of the high degree of individuality that characterized many of them, particularly the most active and creative." "Their response arose from a level of consciousness that recognized, even if sometimes only dimly, the desperate need of the human race for spiritual enlightenment. To remain steadfast in their commitment to this insight required of these early believers--on whose sacrifice of self much of the foundation of the present-day Baha'i communities both in the West and many other lands were laid--that they resist not only family and social pressures, but also the easy rationalizations of the world-view in which they had been raised and to which everything around them insistently exposed them."

From 'Abdu'l-Baha, quoted in Century of Light: "Such was our state when a letter came to us from the American friends. They had covenanted together, so they wrote, to remain at one in all things, and ... had pledged themselves to make sacrifices in the pathway of the love of God, thus to achieve eternal life. At the very moment when this letter was read, together with the signatures at its close, 'Abdu'l-Baha experienced a joy so vehement that no pen can describe it...."

Also by 'Abdu'l- Baha from Century of Light: "Ye must become the very soul of the world, the living spirit in the body of the children of men. In this wondrous Age, at this time when the Ancient Beauty, the Most Great Name, bearing unnumbered gifts, hath risen above the horizon of the world, the Word of God hath infused such awesome power into the inmost essence of humankind that He hath stripped men's human qualities of all effect, and hath, with His all-conquering might, unified the peoples in a vast sea of oneness."

May God bless all your efforts to bring healing and light into your lives and into the lives of others!

In Baha'i love,
Bob


(March 13, 2002):

I am trying to assemble a group here in the Triangle area of North Carolina which will be an example of an authentic, spiritual and unified group. But it is hard--very hard. The world and worldliness traps people so they don't know what their authentic self is. They have conformed to the standards and behaviors of the world without knowing it, since everybody else is doing the same conforming. And most Baha'is have been caught in a pretense, projecting an idealized self-image of what a good Baha'i should be, but inside they have not truly addressed their real needs. They have spent much of their lives creating a mask, or false self, and have felt forced to uphold this image, but they are not able to be unified or spiritual, since they are not authentic. There can be no intimacy this way, and intimacy with God is limited. We need to be real with each other and with God. This usually takes suffering to break down the defenses we have built up over the years. And we have conformed to what we thought was expected of us. But it is not working. It works for the old world order illusion--but we are trying to create a new world, based on Reality, so we will have to be different. We have to expose the deception. Yes, lovingly and gently--and sometimes I am impatient. There are non-Baha'i books out there that deal with these themes: The Different Drum (M. Scott Peck), The Four Agreements (Don Miguel Ruiz), Debbie Ford's books, and many others.

We need to create safe environments so we can let down our masks and learn to be our authentic selves. We will have to feel free to show our dark side to a certain extent, and we will have to attempt to transmute our characters and spiritualize ourselves from this place of authenticity, where we will see our defects and faults, and we will see the defects and faults of others. So we will have to be loving with ourselves and to others on a new level. All this fluffiness--this plastic Baha'i niceness must give way to genuine connection and loving the person through to their authentic self, which might not be so lovely and sweet, and may be scared, guilty, hurt, angry, bitter, lonely, unhappy, or full of shame. Of course this work will be done in small groups first, since most Baha'is will not be ready for this, until more suffering comes into their lives. Then they will be forced into it. We can only keep up the charade as long as our worldly attachment life is satisfying us. When tests come, the veils fall away, and we need to reach into a deeper part of ourselves, and we search for a renewed faith, a deeper connection with people and with God. But if our worldly life is fine, rarely do we search for deeper meaning. Believe me, the searching masses want authentic love and spirit, that cares deeply, and is humble and real and compassionate. They don't want the plastic niceness, with a table full of food, and fluffy formalities and materialism. They see through that.

We Baha'is must do the work of authenticating ourselves, and spiritualizing our lives from this place of authenticity. This will take work, and creating safe environments without the usual judgments and limiting viewpoints. We want to be a love, wisdom and spirit-based community, not a material and Baha'i image-based community. We want the real thing! Shoghi says the people want not an imitation, but Truth! So we will have to search hard to see these truths, and we will have to give up old ways of thinking and being. No more old world order thinking and being. It is time for the building of the new world order on the inner plane, as well as the outer! We need to revamp, to reorient our ways! Time to transform and heal! Because of my living situation, I don't spend much time on the internet, so I am not posting often. But I believe these themes are very pertinent for now, so I will try to post more, and please feel free to respond with your thoughts.

In Baha'i service,
Bob


(Sept. 16, 2002):

Hi All! I've been feeling more hopeful lately, because I know the forces of spiritual unity are irresistibly drawing us together. As the old world crumbles, and the disintegration of society advances ever closer, the concomitant forces of integration and unity are poured out for us. As we face the brink of a possible world-wide conflict, we know that healing spiritual powers will be poured out to those who call upon God in this time. It is a time to arise and unite and exploit the suffering of humanity to bring the redemptive message of Baha'u'llah to the confused masses. If there is suffering, then there needs to be healing. And it is time to arise and call upon Baha'u'llah and His love like never before, as we confront the tribulation of the times. For those who still suffer, know that God is ever-present, and He will work with us as we make sense out of the chaos. We must strive to become spiritual, and to detach from this world of conflict, illusion, and materialism. We need to join together and help one another, and learn and teach with humility and compassion. I pray that our conversations are elevated in consciousness, and we can learn to focus more on spiritual solutions, rather than worldly strivings. I pray that the sense of self, whether it is blame or acclaim, pride or abasement, is surrendered and dissolved within the love and glory or God, so that His strength becomes our hope. Then we trust in Him, and our soul is comforted!

Love,
Bob


(Jan. 11, 2003):

Hi all! As we struggle through this difficult in-between time, let us realize that all suffering has a wisdom and a lesson. We may not always understand it right away, though. But God is aware of our pains and struggles, He knows our every thought, and He is our wise Father. In the spiritual world, there is completeness, joy, and constancy. The Kingdom is the real world, and this world is only its shadow stretching out. Let's remember our connection to the Eternal life, the spirit world, where we are free and our hearts soar in the bliss of spiritual joy and knowledge. When I am sick or in pain, I allow myself to feel the pain, and in allowing myself to feel it, with no negative judgment, I also allow myself to freely receive and feel God's loving Grace--as I remember His Words and promises. Let's all pray that we can trust again and that we find safe places to allow ourselves to feel our pain all the way to the end, where we will find God's love and knowledge waiting to guide us and lift us up on His wings. This love--feeling it and knowing it, and trusting it, will be our healing. Authenticity, courage, trust, hope, love, wisdom. May all these beautiful qualities and more be yours in the coming days and weeks. My love to you all!

Bob


(Jan. 15, 2003):

Thanks for the currents of movement occurring here. I guess it is the ocean of desire in our hearts--desire for love, connectedness, unity. We want to break out of complacency, we want to see ourselves and others emerge from the cocoons of materialism, and begin to soar on the wings of authenticity, and even more, on the wings of the Spirit. It is hard for most of us to face ourselves--how this society has deceived us, and how we have chosen the standards of this society as a measure for our lives. Now we need to go through the painful process of transmutation. The old self must fall away, and the new, spiritual creature is born in its place. Many of us are in the midst of such a transformation, but we become stuck. We feel we need help and assistance on a greater level than we have heretofore received. We have few living examples of this new creature. It is uncharted territory. We are at an evolutionary precipice. There must be a critical mass of people who want this next step of growth. There are many authenticity movements out in the world. We can learn from them. But we need to fuse this knowledge and practice with the Baha'i Spirit. I am ready to discover, to work for it, to try, to put my talents and abilities on the table of sacrifice for the good of humanity and service to the Cause. Who else is willing to surrender their lives to serve the Cause and dedicate their gifts and talents to this service? Lord, lead us to those people whom you see fit that we work with, to advance your Cause and the process of entry by troops! Assist us, make us victorious by the power of your Holy Spirit!

Love,
Bob


(Jan. 16, 2003):

Ah, there is no escape from God's irresistible unifying power of Love! Of course we can prolong it with our own selfishness! But, ah, we are in a society based on ego and competition and materialism, and it is so hard to get free of the entanglements of this world, and to soar on the wings of holiness, especially if everyone around you is also caught in the same web! Help us, God, this is not funny! Get us out of this mess! We are sorry for our sins, sorry for turning away from you, sorry for living for our egos and worldly desires! We want You, only You--we want only what You desire for us! Please help us and bring us to Your loved ones, free us from the meshes of this world and our corrupt desires. We long to hold Your holy hand, and we long for the freedom of worshiping You without restraint. We long to be transported to the precincts of Your sacred domain, and we want that world to be our world, so that we can live here in our bodies, but be living by Your grace alone, through the power of Your Holy Spirit. Transform us into Your likeness, penetrate our hearts and souls, and transmute our darkness into light, so that we may shine for all to see! Bring us companions, oh Lord, so our journey here is not so lonely and desolate. Lighten our hearts and send a breeze of holiness into our lives, please, oh Lord. We long for Your presence to be with us all the day long. Help us Lord!

Bob

Spiritual work--letter to a friend

(Spiritual Work, letter to Sherlock, 7/4/06):

Sherlock, I'm curious to know what kinds of conversations you anticipate with me and perhaps others, as we enter into an approach to the threshold of the Beloved. I think it is quite difficult to anticipate what might happen, since to truly break new ground, we will witness the breaking of the old foundations of our life--the attachments to self and this world. The noise resulting from a true transformation of our old self may not be something we have quite heard of late. Perhaps the sixties was a taste of it, without the religion to guide it. Letting go of ego and pride and the old 'tricks' will be a necessary precursor to a humble receiving of the Spirit. We will have to feel a divine safety in order to reveal the tender underlayers of our personhood, to empty out enough to 'merit' the infusing of the Glorious Transcendent Light! How can this occur without a tumult and upheaval, the likes of which can tear down an entire civilization!

Alas, for we, as the spiritual descendants of the Dawnbreakers, must sacrifice all of ourselves on the altar of His Love. Thus, all that was built up for the sake of self, in all its subtlest forms, must be razed to the ground, ground up, and with the power of the Divine Elixir itself, turned into spirit, and unleashed onto the world with the overwhelming radiant splendor of Baha! All the needs and longings will be used for fuel to create the very love that will heal hearts and minds. We cannot bypass the struggle, for the struggle is the fuel for the fire! It is the pain of longing which leads us to Him. Without pain we cannot grow. The pain humbles us and shows us that we are in need of greater love, and that our ego is still here, needing more purifying. Those who don't struggle have false humility, since they feel they have arrived and have no inner need or impetus to seek with fervor for a greater measure of the Beloved. The beloved is infinite--He never ends--our search for Him is ongoing.

Praise God we can be humble at His threshold, be honest about our needs and shortcomings, and bare ourselves to Him, since He sees us, and He created us. May we be able to, if in our longing for Him it is deemed beneficial, to also bare ourselves to one another, so that we can better reflect His love in our interactions, without the veils of contrived personality we are so used to. God, give us the wisdom and grace to accomplish this. We do this for Your Cause, out of the outpourings of Your Love and Mercy. Give us patience and humility, and discernment. Give us an open mind and heart, and cause us to apprehend the glorious intimations of regeneration and renewal which are vibrating within every atom of existence, so that we can rest assured that we are alive and growing beings, capable of change and transformation, in accordance with Your glorious command!

Through His Love,
Bob


"Through that Word the realities of all created things were shaken, were divided, separated, scattered, combined and reunited, disclosing, in both the contingent world and the heavenly Kingdom, entities of a new creation."

--Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations, pp. 295-96


"Throughout the world, immense intellectual and spiritual energies are seeking expression, energies whose gathering pressure is in direct proportion to the frustrations of recent decades. Everywhere the signs multiply that the earth's peoples yearn for an end to conflict and to the suffering and ruin from which no land is any longer immune. These rising impulses for change must be seized upon and channeled into overcoming the remaining barriers that block realization of the age-old dream of global peace. The effort of will required for such a task cannot be summoned up merely by appeals for action against the countless ills afflicting society. It must be galvanized by a vision of human prosperity in the fullest sense of the term-an awakening to the possibilities of the spiritual and material well-being now brought within grasp."

--Bahai International Community, The Prosperity of Humankind (Haifa: Bahai International Community Office of Public Information, 1995) P. 1.

"I beg of Thee, O my God, by Thy most exalted Word which Thou hast ordained as the Divine Elixir unto all who are in Thy realm, the Elixir through whose potency the crude metal of human life hath been transmuted into purest gold, O Thou in Whose hands are both the visible and invisible kingdoms, to ordain that my choice be conformed to Thy choice and my wish to Thy wish, that I may be entirely content with that which Thou didst desire, and be wholly satisfied with what Thou didst destine for me by Thy bounteousness and favor. Potent art Thou to do as Thou willest. Thou, in very truth, art the All-Glorious, the All-Wise."

--Baha'u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha'u'llah, p. 53


"Know thou, moreover, that every created thing is continually brought forth and returned at the bidding of thy Lord, the God of power and might...

Verily, the Word of God is the Cause which hath preceded the contingent world--a world which is adorned with the splendours of the Ancient of Days, yet is being renewed and regenerated at all times."

--Baha'u'llah

About authenticity--a letter

(from 1/14/03)

____, I want to recognize and thank you for your authenticity and honesty, especially at the beginning of your presentation. I believe honesty, or authenticity, is one of the keys to spiritual growth. Without it, we deceive ourselves and others. You acknowledged your fears and feelings, and then you put your trust in us, and in God, enough to share it with us. This created the seed and open space for an authentic dialogue with the audience. You then recognized and acknowledged the limitation of your ego, and called on God to help, basically. If we can't be honest with where we are at, in our ego strivings, in our pain, in our fears and weakness, how can we ever recognize our utter need for God, and call on Him with all our heart? We must be honest with ourselves, and see how we have been acting in our ego strength for ego purposes, and then we must recognize the utter limitation of this striving. Then we become convicted that God is the only way. If we don't recognize and dismantle our selfish ego patterns, we can't fully embody our spiritual realization.

And if we can't acknowledge this publicly, how can we convey these truths to others? It would be mere words. If others can't see in us a heartfelt acknowledgment of our utter dependency on God, and a heartfelt awareness of the utter futility of ego and worldly strivings and attachments, we will never have a chance to show His Greatness and the Truth of His Word. And if we can't bring the Power of God into our lives and hearts, and allow His Spirit to transform and transmute us, how can we transmit His spirit to others? People are yearning for methods to truly embody spiritual realization, so the words penetrate through, and dissolve the old, useless patterns which we have acquired from this lamentably defective society. The fire and flame of the Spirit, embodied in the hearts and minds of believers will win the hearts of the people.

Although mere words can plant seeds, without spiritual people, alive with the flame of God's love and wisdom, we will never reach great numbers. And without the unity that this spiritual power can bring, we will not succeed. And authenticity is a beginning, a way to see into the truth of our selves, our lives, how we have been living. We can then see clearly our imperfections, and how we are not living according to the ideal. This way we are humble and honest, and we can humbly call on the Holy Spirit, and ask to be transformed into new creatures, dedicated to God, and on the Path of Truth! But this takes courage, discipline, faith, openness, humility, love, patience, consecrated souls, living examples, and what is very important: safe spaces and environments to do this work! Let's pray that for now, we can create this space in our hearts and minds, and that we can bring this work into the training institutes, study circles, devotional meetings and children's classes, and make these meetings safe places to explore our transformation!

It is sad that we are taught in this society that it is wrong to feel any weakness, suffering, or pain. And it is sad that we are expected to display to others an image of perfection, however false it is. This perfection is based on this society's standards of worldly success, material happiness, aggressive fearlessness, and attainment of the American dream. And in religious communities, displays of spiritual distinction and excellence, sinlessness and purity is expected of us, regardless of their falsity and the fact that they are facades generated by our ego fears and desires. Let's pray that in our Baha'i meetings we are able to convey not the perfection of a false image, a worldly image of perfection, but that we can clear away the fabricated images, and present to ourselves and to each other the true image of the perfection of the Blessed Beauty Baha'u'llah! Praise God!!

Sincerely in His service,
Bob Charnes

Path of authentic transformation--a letter

(letter to friend, 'path of authentic transformation'):

____, it's very difficult to go through deep spiritual transformation, whereby the conditioned personality, with its attachments to this world and its comforts, is surrendered to God for the sake of the His Beauty and Cause. But Truth is truth, there is no way around it. A big problem comes when this fire of God's love breaks through the veils of the outer personality and the new birth emerges, one is surrounded by people who are still operating from the conditioned personality, and the society is designed for this very worldly method of operation. And it is quite difficult when one cannot find any support in one's spiritual community to do the intense and painful work of self-surrender and trust in God on the level of absolute sincerity and honesty. This work brings a break down of the old self and a building up of a new configuration of individual spiritual substance which is always a mystery since it is in the Hands of God at all moments.

Anyway, I don't know if this makes sense to you, or if you experience any of this, but I am always looking for people to really get serious about the work of true spiritual transformation. I know this isn't what most Baha'is talk about, but I believe it is important, and I'd like to discuss it with you if you want to. Although if you need to stay focused on administration, and cannot be open to explore the inner mysteries of the self dissolving into the divine, as an actual real-time experience, then it is best not to discuss further. I have found intense resistance from people to the idea of actual in-the-moment transformation, whereby the self interfaces with the Holy Spirit, and the veils of self are rent asunder, and a transmutation takes place. Some people think this is something that you should only possibly experience alone, and never with other people. With people, the thought is to remain heavily defended and operate only from the shell of the person. It seems people don't know how to act with others if they are touched by God in a deep way. The resistance is due to the fact that the self-personality is the person's whole identity, and there is dread to be without it, to actually trust God for real, and have Him recreate us each moment. People think it can't be done, that one can't live like that. But this is what Baha'u'llah asks of us. And he never said that we should only experience transformation when we are alone.

If more people begin living by God's grace such that the person actually changes, then we can work together to change the world, and make it a world which will fit the new configurations which will emerge. It is called evolution, and it will happen, whether we do it, or somebody else does it! We need to learn how to be open to experience God with others as well as alone. We need to feel safe to do this.We need to learn to communicate with others while we are allowing God to enter into our hearts, while we are not defending our ego territory. We need to learn to relate not from our worldly personalities, but from a letting go of our defense structure. This will bring fear and it will expose our worldly attachments. But if we never go through this fear, if we never allow an honest look at ourselves, if we never face our fears, insecurities, needs for love, we will never grow individually or as a community.

Inside, don't we all want love and unity? Don't we all want to let down our walls, and feel love? But we are afraid of getting hurt. As children we got hurt, so we built walls and conformed to the standards of society so we would get approval and security from parents, peers, and others. We went to school, got jobs, got married, got all the security and approval, and now we are stuck in worldly shells, and the soul is dead. It is all an imitation now, an idealized self-image, but the connection to the living Truth is gone. We are relating to each other from behind veils of self, too afraid to say what we really feel inside, too afraid to admit our wants and needs, too afraid we'll get hurt like we did as kids. So we keep conforming, and most people don't even know they are living an artificial life. You have to deny truth in order to really live like that. The truth would be too painful. Too many years have gone into building up the false self. Only the most disastrous of calamities can break down the falsity of most people.

Okay, ____, by now, you might think I'm too critical, and this is where many people leave me alone. But there are millions of people who see things this way, there are so many books about it, it is just that Baha'is are so afraid to admit these things, because the facade will collapse. But don't we want the real thing? Don't we want to show the world real people, who are truly struggling to manifest God's love through inner transformation, instead of just a focusing on administration? How long should we wait? Now is the time to trust in God and join together for real, as a true community, and serve each other from a deep place of honesty. The spiritual bonds must grow in an environment of honesty and humility. We have so much work to do! I feel the work can start in small groups at first. We can talk more if you want. I have many more letters about this.

Bob

Cultivating authentic spirituality--a letter

Hey, ____! It's Bob, here--the one who talked to you about authentic spirituality at the Convention! I woke up this morning with a strange energy. I felt energy to connect with people, because connecting and spreading the spirit I must do! But what do I have to share? That is a mystery to most people...but of course we are much more than what we do and seem. But when and where can we develop and utilize what we are but what we don't see? Can't spiritual growth and transformation occur at a more rapid pace with the support of a group setting? I feel it is almost necessary. That's why we are asked to have devotions, children's classes and Institutes. But we are so caught in individualistic and materialisitc models of growth. I believe that in less materialistic and more communal societies, there exist elements and understandings of spiritual unity which we in the US need to learn. We are desperate to learn and implement these understandings, but most of us don't know we need it! We are feeding ourselves with poison, but don't know we are diseased. Those of us who see, can help ourselves and help others. I know you see, and are helping others. Service exists in many different forms. I need to help others. This email is both an expression of service, and a plea for help. Don't we all need each other? And we all have something to give. So I am just being authentic here!

There is a language of the heart, of intuition, of love, which is beyond concepts and words, and I know you are in tune with it. This is the mystery door which leads to the sea of treasure which is currently being withheld from many Baha'is. In this treasure, we find connectedness and intimacy with all people. We find acceptance and love. We find emotion and passion. We find helpfulness, openness, and even humility. When these treasures are burnished with the Spirit of the Word of God, shiny, new and pure treasures are revealed to our eyes, minds and hearts, which hold immense value and healing capacity. These special pure treasures can be reached by those who are pure in heart and who have the courage and faith to travel through the door of detachment from this world. There is sanctification, purification, and trials through this door, and on this path. The attachments to this world are seen as illusion, and befitting only those who desire them. The pearls of the Spiritual Kingdom are revealed through the fire of purification, and can only be reached through longing, fervent devotion and yearning. These gems of divine mysteries are more valuable, much more precious that any earthly treasure. These gems and qualities of the heart and spirit, which exist in the spirit, possess the power to heal the peoples of the world, and to set aglow the hearts of men and women, in such wise that many of them will fling away this world, and join with us in celebrating this Love, and spreading the savors of the Blessed Beauty far and wide, with passion and zeal!

I know this sounds preachy, but it is all really how I feel--it is from my heart and soul, not just my head! What do I do with all this zeal and love for God? I feel like a mystic wanderer. I know I need some structure--a channel to express this love and wisdom. I am giving it all to God, since He gave it to me. I know who I am, and I dedicate it all to God. But I still feel my human needs--I am not always detached and pure! I need help from others, and I need to help others. But it seems I traveled so far in certain directions of consciousness, there is no one there to direct me, but God. And I have accepted that. The worst part is that it seems no one is ready to receive the gifts that I have to offer, unless I can offer it in a way which causes them to realize that they need it! And I am not so good at packaging things in a way which is appealing to others, unless it happens to be in my heart at the time. I can't market myself, so to speak. And I believe we should work with others to spread the fragrances of our gifts and our service, anyway. It's just that my gifts and talents are elusive to many, there is presently no environment to cultivate them, and I believe they are rare and unusual, but valuable, nonetheless. (There are schools and apprenticeships for accountants, doctors, engineers, landscapers, etc., but nothing for new age mystic psychologist/free-improv musicians!) I believe we need to help create and carve out new roles in society--uh, the new world/society, based on authentic and spiritual identities, instead of having people conform to and fit into existing molds which suppress the true self, and suffocate the soul. Oh, the youth would benefit tremendously! Isn't this the core of the issue for them?

I believe there are many people with gifts and talents which are not recognized and appreciated by most people, and in this society, there are no means to develop, cultivate and nurture many human qualities which are crucial to the healthy functioning of any society. These people fall by the wayside, become labeled as mentally ill, take medication or drugs, become angry, bitter, isolated. If we could only nurture these gems in a spiritual environment, with love, acceptance, openness, humility, and the Words and Spirit of God, we would reap great benefits for the Cause of God and humanity! My mission is simple. I want to utilize my gifts and talents, and help others to do the same, in an environment of love, openness, humility and spirituality! Some arts and music would be great!

My dream is to have an Arts and Healing Center. But first I wanted to have an Institute for Healing and Transformation, which would be like a workshop setting. But even an informal support group would be fine. It seems in this fast-paced culture, we need to set aside a prescribed time and place to meet and focus on God and spiritual growth, and to detach from this world. And this is what the UHJ is asking us to do. They are asking us to design and hold Institutes, devotions, social and economic development projects, etc. Soon, we will see more calamities and entry by troops, and these new institutions will be the refuge. So why not get real, get spiritual, and...well, I guess--start sharing? I know it is a lot, but I felt inspired to write to you.

Baha'i Love,

Bob Charnes