I was asked by my Local Spiritual Assembly \u2013 the local guiding body of a Baha\u2019i community \u2013 to answer some questions about the Baha\u2019i Faith from a curious student of comparative religion at a local college. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This curious soul and I had a remarkable, fascinating interchange, and our correspondence led to this \u201cripped from real life\u201d series of essays. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
I let this person know that there was much more to the Baha\u2019i Faith than what I could tell him based on his questions, but that I\u2019d do my best. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
His first question: \u201cHow does the Baha\u2019i religion practice their faith? How do Baha\u2019is actually worship?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
RELATED: Having a Conversation with the Creator<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n Baha\u2019is view the practice of our faith, and worship of the Creator, as an element of daily life. Baha\u2019u\u2019llah, the founding prophet of the Baha\u2019i Faith, prescribed daily prayer, meditation, and study of scripture for each individual believer, and said that work done in a spirit of service is worship in the sight of God. He also spoke of an attitude of prayer that we are to strive to take in our daily lives to transform ourselves, our families and our social interactions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n When I use the word \u201dmeditation\u201d you might think of yoga, but there is no prescribed form of meditation in the Baha\u2019i Faith. Baha\u2019u\u2019llah\u2019s eldest son Abdu\u2019l-Baha described meditation as communing with one\u2019s own spirit<\/a> \u2014 as contemplation or reflection. My personal meditation often takes the form of writing, working on art, or just settling into a quiet \u201cspace\u201d to the sound of a nighttime forest or a river. I focus on the state I am seeking at that time: calm, focus, resilience, creativity, energy. Sometimes I form a mantra \u2014 an image, sound, word, or phrase \u2014 that invokes those spiritual qualities. As they say, your mileage may vary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In terms of collective<\/em> worship, Baha\u2019u\u2019llah discouraged the creation of religious ritual, and instead gave us what he referred to as Feast, which is held on the first day of every Baha\u2019i month. The Baha\u2019i calendar has 19 months of 19 days each. The new year begins on the vernal equinox in the Northern Hemisphere, with the celebration of Naw Ruz, which means \u201cNew Year.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n The Baha\u2019i Feast has that name because it involves worship where Baha\u2019i communities gather for spiritual and physical food. Each Baha\u2019i Feast has three simple parts: devotions\/worship, community consultation, and fellowship. Of this pillar of Baha\u2019i community life, Abdu\u2019l-Baha wrote:<\/p>\n\n\n\n You must continue to keep the Nineteen Day Feast. It is very important; it is very good. But when you present yourselves in the meetings, before entering them, free yourselves from all that you have in your heart, free your thoughts and your minds from all else save God, and speak to your heart. That all may make this a gathering of love, make it the cause of illumination, make it a gathering of attraction of the hearts, surround this gathering with the Lights of the Supreme Concourse, so that you may be gathered together with the utmost love.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Since the Baha\u2019i Faith has no clergy \u2014 by direct mandate of Baha\u2019u\u2019llah \u2014 devotions are planned by the Local Spiritual Assembly, or by individuals or groups of believers. Feast varies from community to community and may incorporate music, readings from scripture and prayer, or other elements. These can be quite diverse and reflect the makeup of the community. Lakota Sioux Baha\u2019is might, for example, celebrate Feast with a Hoop Dance; Baha\u2019is elsewhere may celebrate Feast with gospel or other folk music. <\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n