User:Brettz9/meetings for teaching/meetings for teaching justification
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"Dr Yunis Khan, that trusted secretary of the Master...has, in his precious memoirs, left for posterity some examples of firmness in the Covenant...
""After the rebellion of Mirza Aqa Jan [a secretary of Bahá'u'lláh], his many letters written in denunciation of the Covenant were scattered all over a table in the reception room of Abdu'l-Bahá... In those days when He visited the reception room, Abdu'l-Bahá would often say something about these letters. One day, as He was looking at them, His attention was drawn to a certain letter which He picked up and read aloud; He showed its seal and signature to the friends who were present. As I was standing at the far end of the room, He called me to come forward and see the signature for myself. As a gesture of humility I bowed and went a little forward. He again called me to come close and see it. I took one step forward and bowed, meaning that it was not necessary for me to see as I believed that the words of the Master were true. Thereupon for the third time He emphatically ordered me to go forward and see the signature with my own eyes. This time I complied with His command.
""After this experience my mind was troubled and I became very concerned. I wanted to know what was the wisdom of the Master in insisting that I must see the signature with my own eyes, because I did not believe in my eyes as much as I believed in the words of the Master...
"One day Dr Yunis Khan met a certain Prince who was a believer of wide repute, but who could not understand that Mirza Aqa Jan had been unfaithful and had written many defamatory letters addressed to various Baha'is. Dr Yunis Khan continues the story:
""I said to the Prince that I had seen the letters myself, indeed I was ordered by the Master to examine Mirza Aqa Jan's signature and seal. He said 'Did you really see it with your own eyes?' When I answered in the affirmative, he said: 'I trust in your words; you have dispelled my doubts. I am so relieved.'"
"Dr Yunis Khan then realized that the Master's insistence that he see the signature with his own eyes had not meant that he was not firm in the Covenant, but was rather necessary in order to strengthen the faith of this other believer."
- (Adib Taherzadeh, Covenant of Bahá'u'lláh, pp. 269-271)
The proofs are difficult for some believers to accept. Some may be opposed because they think it takes away mystery from religion. Others may not be intellectually curious enough to persist. Others simply don't know it is enjoined by 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Some know, but mistakenly think spirituality is only to be felt internally. Some fear offering proofs is like arguing. Some are uncomfortable with attempts to convert others. The quotes in this introduction to the meeting for teaching address such objections, and thus your learning that they are available in the Writings (and from here) may help you confirm the faith of others who might otherwise be deterred from accepting the need to study and teach these proofs. So it is hoped that you may, like the doctor in the story, not just accept on faith that it is a teaching, but also be prepared to study these quotations deeply enough so as to be able to offer relevant ones, as the need arises, to other friends who may be in doubt about the principles therein.
Study so as to convey Teachings more accurately to others[edit]
"Essential Requisites for Spiritual Growth"
"3. Prayerful meditation on the Teachings, so that we may understand them more deeply, fulfill them more faithfully, and convey them more accurately to others."
For teaching, it can be helpful to ask oneself for each quote, "Who in particular needs to know this? What deficiency in understanding or behavior is this quote trying to correct?" With such thoughts in mind, one may be better ready to offer these quotes to a person who needs it when the occasion arises.
Connection to Ruhi and current plans[edit]
Some may wonder whether there is any room for other deepening activities when we have Ruhi.
In an earlier edition of Ruhi Book 7, Walking Together on a Path of Service (Introduction, par. 3), mention was made of the book being insufficient for becoming an effective tutor and that in the experience of the Ruhi courses
- "Regular gatherings for tutors became an essential element in the system..." whereby participants would
- "...come together periodically to polish their skills and enhance their understanding..."
In addition to this, the House itself states:
"...the friends’ efforts to increase their understanding of the Faith and its teachings are of course not limited to participation in the institute process. Indeed, one strong indicator of an institute’s effectiveness is the thirst it cultivates within those who engage with its materials to continue to study the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh—individually, but also collectively, whether in formal spaces created by the institutions or in more informal settings."
- (Universal House of Justice, to the Conference of the Continental Boards of Counsellors, 30 December 2021, https://www.bahai.org/library/authoritative-texts/the-universal-house-of-justice/messages/20211230_001/1#758524503 )
Connection to 'Abdu'l-Bahá[edit]
'Abdu'l-Bahá Himself speaks of "meetings for teaching" where the proofs and history are studied on a regular (weekly) basis:
"Amongst other things is the holding of the meetings for teaching so that blessed souls and the old ones from amongst the believers may gather together the youths of the love of God in schools of instruction and teach them all the divine proofs and irrefragable arguments, explain and elucidate the history of the Cause, and interpret also the prophecies and proofs which are recorded and are extant in the divine books and epistles regarding the manifestation of the Promised One, so that the young ones may go in perfect knowledge in all these degrees."
See also[edit]
- Meeting for teaching (Bahai9)
More resources[edit]
- See Meeting for teaching (Bahaipedia) for discussion of
- The initial implementer of such meetings, Sadru's-Sudúr (or on Bahaipedia)
- How these meetings were a former goal from the House for Local Spiritual Assemblies
- How these meetings have an earlier, alternate name "spiritual meetings"
- How these meetings are especially to include the involvement of women
