As I'm sure you know, the Universal House of Justice has called for a number of conferences this year, and many of them have already happened. These are not just your ordinary conferences, where you attend as a passive individual, watching a series of presentations. No, quite the contrary. They are part of an on-going conversation, in which we engage in learning about Baha'u'llah's vision for humanity, and how we can take practical steps to bring this vision into existence here in our own neighbourhoods.
Before sharing a number of thoughts about this, I want to first mention the five themes that are to be addressed at these conferences.
1. Baha'u'llah's vision for humanity
2. The distance traversed
3. Building vibrant communities
4. Educational endeavours and the training institute
5. Contributing to social transformation
As you can see, these themes are fairly broad, deeply applicable, and build upon each other. The question, though, to me, is what does it mean for them to be part of an on-going conversation? Well, dear Reader, that is what I want to explore today.
When these themes were first presented to us, I considered them, meditated upon them, and realized I knew very little about them. So, as is only natural for me, I asked others what they thought. But then, as I was putting that first theme down in a post on facebook, I realized that it wasn't really framed in a way that would elicit a variety of responses. I had written, "What do you think about Baha'u'llah's vision for humanity?" Well, I think my average friend would have said, "Uhm, not much. I have no idea what it is. In fact, who is Baha'u'llah?"
It was then that I realized I needed to get a better understanding of the intention behind that theme. By looking at the quotes offered to begin the discussion, I reframed the question as "What do you think is the purpose of religion?" Of course, I had to clarify this by explaining that I wasn't interested in a discussion on the recognized abuses of religion. What I wanted was something that either Jesus, or Buddha, or White Buffalo Calf Woman would have agreed with. What was its essential purpose, not how could it be used to manipulate people.
Once that was framed in a way that would elicit what I considered useful answers, I was astonished at the responses I received. Even my die-hard atheist friends offered insights that were profound and beautiful. And, interestingly, there was also a great similarity between most of the responses, showing that many of us have a common vision of the purpose of religion, whether or not we followed one. All of a sudden, I saw a connection, a point of unity, a basis for beginning a fruitful discussion among my friends from a wide variety of backgrounds. And when I threw in the idea that most of what was said could be summed up as "working for the betterment of the world" and "helping us live together in concord and harmony", it was seen as a beautiful summary of what had been stated by this varied group of people, instead of as me pushing a quote from Baha'u'llah upon them. Baha'u'llah had, from my perspective, summed up what my friends were trying to say, and by reflecting this back to them, it opened up doors.
Following this, I have had a lot of discussions with these friends about this summary. Most of these conversations have revolved around the idea of "If this is what it is all about, what can we do to help move our own communities in this direction?" Boom. Practical. Wow.
Ok. That was the first topic touched on to varying degrees of depth. On to the second topic.
How, I wondered, did it follow on the first? I mean, if the Universal House of Justice gives us five topics to discuss, I can only presume that they would build upon each other. I mean, it's possible that they don't, I guess, but I didn't believe that, so let's check it out.
One aspect of the purpose for religion is for us all to live together in harmony. To do so, we need to eliminate prejudice. The second topic, you may recall from above, is to consider the distance traversed so far. Sounds good. Let's try that.
If we consider any of these issues, whether it is human rights, women's rights, race unity, care for the environment, global peace, or even the more generic "unity", how far have we advanced in the past 100 years? or 20 years? or even 5 years? What has changed in regards to race unity since 1920? How have we evolved in our understanding of women's rights since 2000? How has the conversation about the environment evolved in the past 5 years?
It was recognized by all I asked that we have made huge leaps forward in every single one of these areas. We still have a long way to go, obviously, but the trajectory was undeniable. The progress was unquestionable. The improvements in every single area were impressive.
Hope was re-kindled.
My friends began to recognize on a more conscious level that they were part of a growing community that was very concerned about these exact issues. And they should be! They were the ones who brought them up, not me. By looking at the true purpose of religion, they identified areas of concern for religions to discuss. Once those areas were identified, I merely asked how far we had advanced in just a few generations. And where they had been lamenting about how far we had to go, they were now celebrating how far we had come, without losing sight of the still-distant goal.
And now I saw the connection to the third theme, that of building a vibrant community. Now that they saw themselves as part of this emerging community focused on gender rights, or this like-minded community evolving around a concern for the environment, they were ready to address the question of what makes a community vibrant. While at first it seemed like a tangent, they quickly saw the relevance to the issue that was in their heart. Without that vibrancy, the community would never rally together. The cohesion would quickly disintegrate. But with vibrancy, there would be an attractive force to them which would allow them to grow and become more effective in achieving their goals.
By asking the question "What make a vibrant community", they were able to identify elements of community life that they found attractive. And this, of course, led to the natural question, "What can we do to help instill these elements in our community?"
"After all," I pointed out, "you are part of that community and have a vested interest. It is not up to anyone else to do this for you. It is up to you, and I want to help you, for that vision you have shared is a good and noble one." And as we discuss this, I naturally talk about the importance of consultation, inclusion, love and respect, diversity and unity. In other words, I bring the Baha'i principles to the table as part of my experience and share how it can help them advance in their own work, which was shared as part of their experience.
And that, dear Reader, is where I currently am. I have a number of on-going conversations of this nature with my friends and neighbours, about issues that they raised in response to these simple questions. These are issues that are dear to their heart, and I am watching as more and more of them are interested in taking these next few steps.
Where will this go? I have no idea.
Will these friends come share their experiences at the conferences in this area? Again, I have no clue.
I mean, if we pitch it as a "Baha'i" conference in which we can learn about Baha'u'llah's vision, probably not. But if it is offered as a conference in which we will be looking at these issues from a shared perspective, then more likely.
And I suspect that as we identify some of the necessary components that make up a "vibrant community", questions will arise about what they look like, or how we can begin to develop them. And this will naturally lead to discussions about study circles and the offer of components from the Ruhi curriculum that they may find useful in exploring these ideas, which is, of course, the fourth theme offered by the Universal House of Justice.
Now, please understand, this is where I am right now.
If someone says that they want to learn more about consultation, then I will certainly offer them that unit in Ruhi Book 10. But this will need to be done in the context of their work, and will require the necessary time to explore it in action. And where will it go from there? It's too early for me to tell.
* * * * *
Some additional points that I want to bring up which don't quite fit in above:
1. It is worth noting that in the last few paragraphs, I talk about offering components from the Ruhi curriculum. You will note that I am not talking about offering full courses, or entire books. While I am ready to offer that, I suspect that my friends are not ready to dedicate the necessary time. Instead, I am prepared to offer a few sections for discussion. Most of these friends are probably not ready to dedicate 2 - 4 hours a week for a number of months to taking an entire course. They are, however, more than ready to go for coffee and discuss a single section that is relevant to what they are doing. This is part of effective training. If they then see the relevance and importance of these courses, then I am certain they will commit the time, for we are all willing to commit the time to those things we deem important.
2. I also want to point some of the language I used up above, just to raise it to the level of conscious awareness. There are many sentences in this short article that begin with the word "And". Why? It's actually purposeful, and not just a disdain for the rules of English that are solely based on outdated Latin grammar. When we use the improv theatre technique of "Yes, and...", showing that there are no bad ideas, and that all ideas can lead to new developments, it has a peculiar effect on our brain. It fires up our creativity in ways we do not expect.
Story time: Back in the 1990s, when they were first developed PET scans, the scientists involved knew they needed to start by calibrating the machine to a brain at rest. They placed a young lady in the machine and told her to relax so that they could get a base reading of the brain, before asking her to do the various things they wanted to test. To their surprise, huge parts of the brain suddenly started to show great activity. "Relax" they said, "and try not to think of anything." Well, that didn't work. She was relaxed, she said. So, thinking that it may be something to do with her age or gender, they hooked up an elderly man. And again, to their shock, when he said he was relaxed, large parts of the brain started showing great activity. It was then that they realized they were on the verge of discovering something.
They mapped out the active areas of the resting brain when the person was relaxed and discovered that those areas didn't correspond to any known, previously mapped areas of the brain. In fact, it was this mapping that helped them discover a new neural network that stretched from the front of the brain across the top, to the back, down to the bottom, and across both sides. It encompassed a huge part of the brain, over a greater area than any other part they had ever discovered before. And its primary purpose seemed to be to play.
It is through this mental play, in a network that touches numerous other brain areas, that we make some of our greatest and most insightful connections. And one of the easiest ways to access this incredible power is through the "Yes, and..." method of improv, encouraging our brains to make these wild leaps of insight.
That is why so many of the sentences I wrote above begin with "and".
We are embarking on a great social project that will require major leaps in our learning, and as a writer, I want to do all I can to help encourage this.
As we discuss these issues with our friends, many of us will find ourselves wondering at some crazy idea, or weird understanding. And while it would be so easy to stamp it down with a "No, you're wrong", we can encourage these leaps to greater truths with a simple, "Yes, and..."
