Bahai in Russia

I found a blog with mention of new religions in Russia and the opposition of the Orthodox Church. I can understand why the Baha’i Faith would be included, but it is not quite so new as it would seem. The Baha’i Faith itself is new (it is a young religion - every religion was young at one time), but its connection to Russia goes back to the earliest days of the faith. When the Prophet-Founder of the Baha’i Faith was exiled from Tehran in 1852, the Russian Minister to Persia offered Him sanctuary in Russia. Two decades later Baha’is were living in territory that was absorbed into Russia, and have continued to live there since then.

In Ashgobat, in present-day Turkmenistan, Baha’is elected a council in 1895. Baha’is have councils to fulfill the administrative function of priests in other religions. In 1904 a representative of the Czar attended the ceremony to mark the building of the first Baha’i House of Worship in Russia. Over the next decades councils were elected by Baha’is in other Russian cities, including Moscow and Leningrad.

At first the revolution had no impact on the Baha’i community until it was noticed that Baha’i activities were more popular than Young Pioneers, then repression began. Many Baha’is were exiled (the men to Siberia, women and children to Persia) and the House of Worship was confiscated. But isolated Baha’is continued to live in various cities.

During Perestroika the Baha’is felt free to contact each other and receive Baha’i visitors from other countries. In 1989 the Baha’i council of Ashgobat was elected again and gradually others across the Soviet Union. At the end of 1990 a national Baha’i convention was held in Moscow to elect a national Baha’i council for the USSR. Two years later different republics began to elect theirs.

For over a century and a half many Russians have found the Baha’i Faith helpful in their lives. The Baha’i Faith teaches that each person has an eternal soul and the purpose of this life is to prepare the soul for death and eternal life. Without developing our spiritual qualities our life after death will be very limited. The Baha’i Faith teaches that we are created in the spiritual image of God and we are the highest form of creation. The family is the basis of society and we should treat others with more honor that we expect for ourselves. We are to be servants of humanity.

Leaders of other religions object to the Baha’i Faith because so many people find its teachings to be deeply satisfying and meaningful. There is no ritual because it is the condition of a persons heart that is more important. Millions of people around the world from at least 2112 different nations, tribes, religions and ethnic groups are now Baha’is working peacefully together to transform their lives, their families and the world.

What am I doing?

I guess I'm joining the 21st century (though I still want nothing to do with a cel phone). I never imagined I'd be this much of a reactionary, at one time I wanted to change everything in the world - now I want the world to slow down so I can catch up! Maybe it's because the things I've wanted to do have had to be on hold while I did the things that I had to do. Oh, well - now I can learn to focus.

I'll probably stumble around here for a while (maybe a long while) until I learn how this blog-place works. I'm not very good at anticipating how other brains who set up things work.

I want to mention the major transition that, it seems to me, the Baha'i community is engaged in. These are still the very early days of the Faith and still learning what it might mean to be Baha'i. Up to this point in time we have been forming the very basic back bones of community structure - local, national and international councils for corporate decision making, their committess and operating agencies, and the advisors to individuals and the councils. Now we have begun a transformation of the local communities from past social patterns where a few individuals are vocal and active while the rest remain (more or less) passive to a new kind of norm where the vast majority of people are equally interactive. It is truly empowerment of the people. It is a very significant change.

In past human society there have been leaders and followers. The leaders made the decisions and the followers were expected to obey, even (very often) to the cost of their lives. Baha'u'llah as brought information to change all that. The abolition of the priesthood was the first step. Creation of the coucils for governance followed close behind. Creating an advisory position for individuals, separate from the councils, and with no rights of governance, cemented this change. We have implemented that with the local and national Spiritual Assemblies and Universal House of Justice (the councils) and individuals with advisory rank of Counsellors, Auxiliary Board Members and assistants - so the structure is assembled. Now for the empowerment of the masses. It has been possible, but we didn't have a mechanism. One mechanism which has been found to work in several places is now being implemented in the entire world Baha'i community. It is the Ruhi sequence of courses. It is a step by step process whereby people learn how to become active, nuturing individuals who reach out to others and assist them in their own spiritual activation. It is an umfamiliar process, so it is uncomfortable to some, but it seems to be working for a large number of people in very widespread areas of the planet, so it is more successful than any other process we've tried so far.

It is one more step in the process of creating a new social fabric for humanity. And it has just begun!