When the city council of Monrovia, Calif., recently sought to combat racially charged gang violence in this bedroom community of Los Angeles, it turned to the Monrovia Baha'i Family School as a role model for how people of different cultures can get along in our cross-cultural world.Whites, Latinos and African-Americans don’t always connect in a friendly way on the streets of Monrovia, but they do on Cypress Street -- home of the Baha'i school, whose students range from kindergarten to high school. Some students are Baha’is; others come from different faiths.
The purpose of the many Baha'i schools located throughout the country, is to teach children about the oneness of humankind. This core principle of the Baha'i Faith forms the foundation of the Faith’s other principles, which include equality of the sexes, elimination of prejudice, abolition of extremes of poverty and wealth.
Baha’i schools are populated by children of families who want their children to receive a spiritual education that stresses the importance of diversity and unity.
Students also learn the Baha'i concept of progressive revelation -- that the world's major religions are part of a single, progressive process through which God reveals His will to humanity.
Showing posts with label Virtues. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virtues. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Teaching kids to connect in a multicultural world
Saturday, March 8, 2008
Baha’i children’s classes broadcast on NPR’s Morning Edition March 07, 2008 by Barbara Bradley Hagerty
Class Teaches Virtues to Children of Many Faiths
by Barbara Bradley Hagerty
Morning Edition, March 7, 2008 ·
It sounds like the start of a bad joke:
A Jew, a Baptist and a Baha'i get together every Sunday morning ...
But it's a new kind of Sunday school, where families from a range of religions gather to teach virtues to their young children. On a recent Sunday in Falls Church, Va., Layli and Gil Miller-Muro invited parents and children — aged 14 months to 6 years old — to their home to learn about helpfulness.
"Parents of my generation feel incredible pressure to make our kids read earlier, to know math sooner and better, to get into the top preschools and then the best schools," Layli explains. "But what many of us forget is the other side of the character of our children, not just the academic side, but the spiritual side and their character side."
And so last September, the Miller-Muros, who are Baha'i, approached their religious community and asked them to sponsor a virtues class — where the children learn virtues such as obedience, service and friendliness.
And so last September, the Miller-Muros, who are Baha'i, approached their religious community and asked them to sponsor a virtues class — where the children learn virtues such as obedience, service and friendliness.
In the past decade, the Baha'i faith has sponsored about 900 such classes nationwide. They're based on the central Baha'i tenet that all religions are different but come from the same source, God. Gil says the couple then asked their friends if they'd be interested.
"When we proposed this idea to them, they said that was something they'd like to do to," Gil says. "So we realized we had a critical mass and it was time to get started."
The parents come from Muslim, Jewish, Protestant, Unitarian Universalist, Greek Orthodox and Baha'i backgrounds. Rachel Galoob-Ortega, who is Jewish, says she wants her son Luka to learn about and accept all religions.
"What I really want for Luka is when he grows up and someone says to him, 'I'm Baha'i' or 'I'm Zoroastrian' — if he doesn't know, for him to say, 'Well, tell me about that,"" Galoob-Ortega says. "I want him to show a level of curiosity, rather thinking, 'Well, that's not Judaism, that's not what I know.' And to me, that would be important to the development of his character."
Learning Virtues
And to that end, Layli calls the children to the dining room table. In front of each child sits a little lamp shade.
"Remember how we talked about how religions are a lot like lamp shades?" she asks the group. "They may look different, they may be different colors or sit in different rooms, but they all have the light of God inside of them."
The kids glue symbols of various religions onto the shades — a Christian cross, a Buddhist wheel, a star and crescent for Islam. Then Layli calls out, "Come to the light!" And the children, one by one, place their decorated lamp shades on a light bulb.
Layli then turns to the core of the program: virtues.
She starts by asking about last week's lesson.
"Did anyone exhibit contentment this week?" she asks the group sitting in the living room.
"Not me!" one boy announces.
"Not you?" she laughs. "We'll work on that. But we're good at honesty."
Each week, the children learn a different virtue. They studied "justice" for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. For service, they made chocolate chip cookies and delivered them to a retirement home.
Mimi Alamayehou realized that she needed to expose her 5-year-old son, Yacob, to the notion of virtues after she had an epiphany a year ago. She and Jacob were visiting family in Ethiopia, and they saw some children begging.
"And I was telling him, 'These kids don't have any food and don't have anything,'" she recalls. "And he said to me, 'Mommy, I think you need to tell their mommies where the Whole Foods is.'" She laughs. "I was so shocked! I said, 'Oh my God, I really have a lot of work to do if he thinks the only problem is that there's no Whole Foods around!'"
"Did anyone exhibit contentment this week?" she asks the group sitting in the living room.
"Not me!" one boy announces.
"Not you?" she laughs. "We'll work on that. But we're good at honesty."
Each week, the children learn a different virtue. They studied "justice" for the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday. For service, they made chocolate chip cookies and delivered them to a retirement home.
Mimi Alamayehou realized that she needed to expose her 5-year-old son, Yacob, to the notion of virtues after she had an epiphany a year ago. She and Jacob were visiting family in Ethiopia, and they saw some children begging.
"And I was telling him, 'These kids don't have any food and don't have anything,'" she recalls. "And he said to me, 'Mommy, I think you need to tell their mommies where the Whole Foods is.'" She laughs. "I was so shocked! I said, 'Oh my God, I really have a lot of work to do if he thinks the only problem is that there's no Whole Foods around!'"
So, do the virtues stick?
Shazia Philipsen thinks so, especially when she receives an occasional lecture from her daughter, Serena.
"It's things like patience," she says. "In the car, when I'm driving, Serena will say, 'Mommy, you have to be patient!' So she understands through the books, through the storytelling, what it means. I don't think she learns that at school. She's changed, and it's great."
And the children have been so patient for more than an hour, waiting for the highlight of the class, Cowboy Hay. Gil Miller Muro's stepfather strides into the room, sporting a long white beard, a hillbilly hat and a banjo. He begins strumming and the kids join in, perhaps not realizing they are crooning a theological message.
"It's things like patience," she says. "In the car, when I'm driving, Serena will say, 'Mommy, you have to be patient!' So she understands through the books, through the storytelling, what it means. I don't think she learns that at school. She's changed, and it's great."
And the children have been so patient for more than an hour, waiting for the highlight of the class, Cowboy Hay. Gil Miller Muro's stepfather strides into the room, sporting a long white beard, a hillbilly hat and a banjo. He begins strumming and the kids join in, perhaps not realizing they are crooning a theological message.
"We are drops ... of one ocean.
We are waves… of one sea.
Won't you come and join us in our quest for unity.
It's the way of life for you and me," they sing.
The parents collapse into comfortable chairs, as Cowboy Hay and his young virtuosos sing about unity in the complex future they face.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF BAHA'I MARRIAGE
Baha’i marriage is an everlasting relationship between a husband and a wife; their aim is to become one united family materially and spiritually and to achieve spiritual growth throughout there live in this world and the world to come.
“ Thus the husband and wife are brought into affinity, are united and harmonized, even as though they were one person. Through their mutual union, companionship and love great results are produced in the world, both material and spiritual. The spiritual result is the appearance of divine bounties. The material result is the children who are born in the cradle of the love of God, who are nurtured by the breast of the knowledge of God, who are brought up in the bosom of the gift of God, and who are fostered in the lap of the training of God. Such children are those of whom it was said by Christ, ‘Verily, they are the children of the Kingdom!"
Abdu’l-Baha (Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas III, 605-06)
“ Baha’i marriage is union and cordial affection between the two parties. They must, however, exercise the utmost care and become acquainted with each other’s character. This eternal bond should be made secure by a firm covenant, and the intention should be to foster harmony, fellowship and unity to attain everlasting life”
Abdu’l-Baha (Published in Baha’I World Faith, P. 372)
If the marriage was based on spiritual principles then it will be an everlasting marriage and the husband and wife will be with each other eternally.
“Among the majority of the people marriage consists of physical relationship and this union and relationship is temporary for at the end physical separation is destined and ordained. But the marriage of the people of Baha must consist of both physical and spiritual relationship for both of them are intoxicated with the wine of one cup, are attracted by one Peerless Countenance, are quickened with one Life and are illumined with one Light. This is the spiritual relationship and everlasting union. Likewise in the physical world they are bound together with strong and unbreakable ties."
Abdu’l-Baha (Published in Baha’I World Faith, PP. 372-73)
“When, therefore, the people of Baha undertake to marry, the union must be a true relationship, a spiritual coming together as well as a physical one, so that throughout every phase of life, and in all the worlds of God, their union will endure; for this real oneness is a gleaming out of the love of God.”
Abdu’l-Baha
The physical relationship must be established on the spiritual relationship.
“It should not happen that upon the occurrence of a slight friction of displeasure between husband and wife, the husband would think of union with some other woman or, God forbid, the wife also think of another husband. This is contrary to the standard of heavenly value and true chastity. The friends of God must so live and conduct themselves, and evince such excellence of character and conduct, as to make others astonished. The love between husband and wife should not be purely physical, nay rather it must be spiritual and heavenly. These two souls should be considered as one soul. How difficult it would be to divide a single soul! Nay, great would be the difficulty!"
Abdu’l-Baha
The marriage vow
When a man and a woman marry in the Baha’i marriage, each says to the other, before witnesses:
“We will all, verily, abide by the Will of God.”
“ Thus the husband and wife are brought into affinity, are united and harmonized, even as though they were one person. Through their mutual union, companionship and love great results are produced in the world, both material and spiritual. The spiritual result is the appearance of divine bounties. The material result is the children who are born in the cradle of the love of God, who are nurtured by the breast of the knowledge of God, who are brought up in the bosom of the gift of God, and who are fostered in the lap of the training of God. Such children are those of whom it was said by Christ, ‘Verily, they are the children of the Kingdom!"
Abdu’l-Baha (Tablets of Abdul-Baha Abbas III, 605-06)
“ Baha’i marriage is union and cordial affection between the two parties. They must, however, exercise the utmost care and become acquainted with each other’s character. This eternal bond should be made secure by a firm covenant, and the intention should be to foster harmony, fellowship and unity to attain everlasting life”
Abdu’l-Baha (Published in Baha’I World Faith, P. 372)
If the marriage was based on spiritual principles then it will be an everlasting marriage and the husband and wife will be with each other eternally.
“Among the majority of the people marriage consists of physical relationship and this union and relationship is temporary for at the end physical separation is destined and ordained. But the marriage of the people of Baha must consist of both physical and spiritual relationship for both of them are intoxicated with the wine of one cup, are attracted by one Peerless Countenance, are quickened with one Life and are illumined with one Light. This is the spiritual relationship and everlasting union. Likewise in the physical world they are bound together with strong and unbreakable ties."
Abdu’l-Baha (Published in Baha’I World Faith, PP. 372-73)
“When, therefore, the people of Baha undertake to marry, the union must be a true relationship, a spiritual coming together as well as a physical one, so that throughout every phase of life, and in all the worlds of God, their union will endure; for this real oneness is a gleaming out of the love of God.”
Abdu’l-Baha
The physical relationship must be established on the spiritual relationship.
“It should not happen that upon the occurrence of a slight friction of displeasure between husband and wife, the husband would think of union with some other woman or, God forbid, the wife also think of another husband. This is contrary to the standard of heavenly value and true chastity. The friends of God must so live and conduct themselves, and evince such excellence of character and conduct, as to make others astonished. The love between husband and wife should not be purely physical, nay rather it must be spiritual and heavenly. These two souls should be considered as one soul. How difficult it would be to divide a single soul! Nay, great would be the difficulty!"
Abdu’l-Baha
The marriage vow
When a man and a woman marry in the Baha’i marriage, each says to the other, before witnesses:
“We will all, verily, abide by the Will of God.”
Baha’u’llah
There is a relationship that the husband and wife will establish when they say the marriage vow that each one of them accepting the other one and they all abided by God’s will. God is witnessing and supporting them for the successes of their marriage if both husband and wife are sincer on this relationship, and then it will be an everlasting marriage.
We only can understand Baha’i marriage from the Baha’i writings.
“The true marriage…of Baha’is is this, that husband and wife should be united both physically and spiritually, that they may ever improve the spiritual life of each other, and may enjoy everlasting unity throughout all the worlds of God. This is Baha’I Marriage."
Abdu’l-Baha
"Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity, temperance, decency, and clean-mindedness, involves no less than the exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic and literary avocations. It demands daily vigilance in the control of one’s carnal desires and corrupt inclinations. It calls for the abandonment of a frivolous conduct, with its excessive attachment to trivial and often misdirected pleasures. It requires total abstinence from all alcoholic drinks, from opium, and from similar habit-forming drugs. It condemns the prostitution of art and of literature, marriage, infidelity in marital relationships, and all manner of promiscuity, of easy familiarity, and of sexual vices. It can tolerate no compromise with the theories, the standards, the habits, and the excesses of a decadent age. Nay rather it seeks to demonstrate, through the dynamic force of its example, the pernicious character of such theories, the falsity of such standards, the hollowness of such claims, the perversity of such habits, and the sacrilegious character of such excesses."
Shoghi Effendi (The advent of Divine Justice, P. 25)
There is a relationship that the husband and wife will establish when they say the marriage vow that each one of them accepting the other one and they all abided by God’s will. God is witnessing and supporting them for the successes of their marriage if both husband and wife are sincer on this relationship, and then it will be an everlasting marriage.
We only can understand Baha’i marriage from the Baha’i writings.
“The true marriage…of Baha’is is this, that husband and wife should be united both physically and spiritually, that they may ever improve the spiritual life of each other, and may enjoy everlasting unity throughout all the worlds of God. This is Baha’I Marriage."
Abdu’l-Baha
"Such a chaste and holy life, with its implications of modesty, purity, temperance, decency, and clean-mindedness, involves no less than the exercise of moderation in all that pertains to dress, language, amusements, and all artistic and literary avocations. It demands daily vigilance in the control of one’s carnal desires and corrupt inclinations. It calls for the abandonment of a frivolous conduct, with its excessive attachment to trivial and often misdirected pleasures. It requires total abstinence from all alcoholic drinks, from opium, and from similar habit-forming drugs. It condemns the prostitution of art and of literature, marriage, infidelity in marital relationships, and all manner of promiscuity, of easy familiarity, and of sexual vices. It can tolerate no compromise with the theories, the standards, the habits, and the excesses of a decadent age. Nay rather it seeks to demonstrate, through the dynamic force of its example, the pernicious character of such theories, the falsity of such standards, the hollowness of such claims, the perversity of such habits, and the sacrilegious character of such excesses."
Shoghi Effendi (The advent of Divine Justice, P. 25)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
