Tag Archives: Istanbul

The Road to Diamond, Day 154: No Worries

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal Values, service, Social, Spiritual, Striving

May 1, 2025- I woke this morning with a minor headache. After drinking a liter of water, the headache was gone. I greeted the month of May with a renewed sense of purpose. Staying extra-hydrated is a key part of that, as the weather will soon warm up.

As I get ready for a visit back east and down south, over the next 2.5 weeks, there are priorities to be set, but also a need to have a path open to electronically assist those here who contact me by Messenger and IM while I am away. The need to be acknowledged does not stop at the city limits or state line, so I have time to assist some friends who seem to have nowhere else to turn and point them towards those here who can help-and probably be of more help than I am when at Home Base I. For that matter, I have done the same for people in other parts of the country and in other countries, whilst here. That, to me, is one of the prime purposes of the digital realm.

There were about twenty of us who celebrated the Twelfth Day of Ridvan, marking the 162nd anniversary of the departure from Baghdad, by Baha’ullah and his entourage. They would cross the mountains and desert of Anatolia, modern-day Turkey, going by land and sea to what is now Istanbul. It would take them a little over three months. We celebrate, because we know that they made the journey successfully, joyfully, with a sense that their journey was in service to the Divine. Every place that Baha’ullah was sent, ostensibly in exile and as a punishment, was made better by His presence.

That is the reason why, on this day, and in this Day, I feel no worries. No matter how difficult things may sometimes get, the right thing happens in the end.

Ridvan

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Posted by on in collaborating, Community, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Personal goals, Personal Values, Service Activities, Social, Spiritual, Striving

April 21, 2022- The titular word means “Paradise”, and is the name given to two gardens in west Asia. The first was a lush garden, north of Baghdad, from whence Baha’u’llah departed for what is now Istanbul, in April, 1863. It became the site of Baghdad Medical City, a large complex of hospitals, in 1973. The second is an island, surrounded by canals, in the vicinity of Akka, Israel. It was rented by ‘Abdu’l-Baha, in 1875, as a place where Baha’u’llah could spend time away from the dust and confines of the Prison City of Akka. It reminded Him of the Iraqi Garden of Ridvan, thus becoming eponymous to that spot, and also sacred to Baha’is.

Ridvan is also the name given to the twelve-day festival that celebrates Baha’u’llah’s declaration of His mission, which occurred on or around the ninth day of His stay at the original Garden of Ridvan, and made in the presence of His family and closest followers. Today, April 21, was the day of His arrival at the Garden and May 2 was the day He and His entourage departed. Thus, we celebrate the first, ninth and twelfth days as Holy Days, suspending work to the extent humanly possible.

Today also begins the nine-year period of which I have spoken in a few previous posts. The Universal House of Justice, our Supreme Body, has issued the framework for a Nine-Year Plan. Baha’i communities are also devising plans, within that framework and individual believers in turn are planning activities that fit within both the global framework and community plans. Our Faith works in both a top-down and bottom-up manner; the two being in synchronicity, through constant communication and consultation.

Both my activities here at Home Base and my travels thus have an essentially spiritual component. The goal is always building unity between people.

The Summer of the Rising Tides, Day 49: Following Through

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Posted by on in Assistance, collaborating, Community, impediments, Inner Struggles, Inspiration, Personal Values, Service Activities, Spiritual, Striving

July 19, 2020-

I binge watched Season 4 of a Turkish scifi show, called “The Protector”, after completing a project proposal for someone who has great ideas, but who was finding it hard to get started.

The central character in the series, Hakan, had super powers, which he ascribed to certain talismans. He was engaged in fighting a team of demons, one of whom had achieved economic primacy, in the city of Istanbul. The protagonist had his helpers, who experienced their share of doubts and pain.

Two of the demons were more complicated characters, being primarily motivated by emotional pain at feeling betrayed. The lead female antagonist, Valeriya/Nisan ended up being my favourite character, purposely botching the demons’ plan to take over the world, then covering herself enough to avoid suspicion from the others, while gradually learning the truth behind the trauma that had led her to the Dark Side. In the end, her true Light Nature won out.

Following through is always the best course, and as the seeming torture of this year’s transitional events grionds on, it is up to those of us who can see the light at the end of the tunnel to take up the front of the struggle.

Ridvan

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Posted by on in Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Poetry, Spiritual

April 19, 2017, Prescott- 

The Sun of Truth rises,

whenever the darkness is

so thick,

that one could cut it

with a knife.

The Creator promises

truth will be resurrected,

whenever Creation gets

rough around the edges.

New life rises,

from composted soil.

Buildings rise,

from the rubble

of edifices long rent

asunder.

New ideas stem

from new applications

of the old.

From one of

the world’s oldest nations,

comes the call

for mankind to finally

unite,

in the Light of God.

(Baha’u’llah, founder of the Baha’i Faith, revealed His Teachings for a Divinely-inspired unification of the human race, in the twelve-day period preceding His departure from the Ridvan Garden, in Baghdad, from whence He and His family were to go to what is now Istanbul, on a second stage of exile.  This period is commemorated each year by Baha’is, as the Festival of Ridvan.  This year, the Festival is April 20-May 1.)

 

 

In Honour Of….

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Posted by on in Historical, Inspiration, Matters of Faith, Spiritual

April 28, 2016, Prescott- I took today off from work, as we Baha’is are so advised, on Holy Days such as this- the Ninth Day of the Ridvan Festival; the Day when, 163 years ago, Baha’u’llah revealed His Station to family and closest associates, while preparing to follow lawful orders and proceed overland, from Baghdad to Constantinople (Istanbul).  Their departure would begin in earnest, three days later.

We will gather as a community and celebrate the Anniversary, 1 1/2 hours from now, with sacred readings, contemplation and a fine meal.  Baha’u’llah and His entourage, by contrast, frequently had scant food and drink- especially when on the dusty path, northward from Iraq and across Anatolia.  The Messengers of God always take on suffering, if only to show us that it can be overcome, in the end.

Ours is not a Faith of asceticism, nor is it favourable towards  over-indulgence.  We do well, He says, to share good fortune, and not lose heart, in times of scarcity.  The former is largely the result of dispassionate hard work. The latter is a reminder that this is a life meant for character building, which can best be achieved in the face of trials.  So, at least, is my understanding of it all.

He came to bring unity to mankind- and gave us a blueprint, slowly being understood, and accepted, by more people.  It must, however, be done willingly by each individual.  The days of forced conversion are being seen for what they were, and will not be repeated.