Month 6, Day 16: Baha’i Teachings on Health

Like a lot of religions, especially Eastern faiths, Baha’i believes there are two aspects to all human beings: the physical and the spiritual. Both parts can get sick, and both parts need to be treated if the person wants to get better.

As ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, son of Baha’i founder Baha’u’llah, wrote: “There are two ways of healing sickness, material means and spiritual means. The first is by the treatment of physicians; the second consisteth in prayers offered by the spiritual ones to God and in turning to Him. Both means should be used and practiced.”

Okay, that’s fine with me, although I have to say that praying to God has never been as quite effective in treating my recurring strep throat as antibiotics. But I’m willing to roll with the idea of both physical and spiritual healing.

Of course, one way to avoid worrying about how to heal illness is not to get sick in the first place. To help out on that front, Baha’i has some helpful health tips. They include:

• Keeping the body clean (Is it sad that I sniffed my armpit to check on my own cleanliness after typing that line?)
• Eating a simple diet (uh-oh)
• Sexual chastity—that is, maintaining control over the sexual impulse, not necessarily abstaining from sex altogether
• Being moderate in your lifestyle
• Abstaining from alcohol (oops!) and mind-altering drugs
• Not smoking
• Avoiding envy, jealousy, and anger (This last one may be a big problem for me—I’ve already spent a good chunk of the day so far screaming at my dogs, so clearly, anger is a bit of an issue in my life.)

All I can say is, if all these things are necessary for good health, then I must be really, really unhealthy. Funny—I feel pretty good.

Month 6, Day 14: Meditation (Ugh!) and Chanting

Just when I thought I was free from the horrors of meditation, at least until I become Buddhist, the M-word rears its ugly head yet again.

As part of the Baha’i routine, which includes prayer three times a day, the faithful are supposed to spend time twice a day, in the morning and evening, reading a passage of Baha’i scripture and—here it comes—meditating upon its meaning.

Now, I’m an editor, so I’m on board with the scripture reading part of that prescription. Hell, I would happily read some Baha’i scripture three times a day, or even more, if that was the rule. It’s the meditation part I have a problem with.

As anybody who’s read this blog more than once or twice already knows, I suck at meditation. I have no attention span and no concentration, and spending time alone with my empty head just isn’t the healthiest thing for me. I can’t clear my mind, so all I do is dwell on negative thoughts. I can’t help it.

But the Baha’i faith insists that meditation is important for spiritual discipline, so I guess I have to try.

As author Moojan Momen puts it, “While you meditate you are speaking with your own spirit. In that state of mind you put certain questions to your spirit and your spirit answers: the light breaks forth and the reality is revealed. . . . Meditation is the key for opening the doors of mysteries.”

Oh, crap.

And, as if being required to meditate twice a day isn’t daunting enough, there’s another rule for Baha’i spiritual practice. Believers are supposed to chant a little phrase, kind of like a mantra: “Alláhu Abhá”—“God is most glorious.”

Okay, chanting is fine with me, but here’s the catch: You’re supposed to chant that phrase 95 times—that’s right, count ’em—a day.

I have no idea where the number 95 came from, but in my humble opinion, it seems just a smidge high. I don’t think there’s anything I’d really want to do 95 times a day, except maybe eat. But I’m being a good Baha’i, so I’ll chant and meditate.

Alláhu Abhá. That’s one. Only 94 more to go.

Month 6, Day 12: Work as Worship

If you were reading this blog back in November, you might remember that Hinduism has a notion that the work we do to earn a living on a daily basis can be considered a service to God and a form of worship that is just as meaningful as prayer.

Baha’i sees things the same way. In fact, according to the Baha’i faith, human beings are required to work—even if we happen to be lucky enough and rich enough not to have to work to survive.

The Kitáb-I-Aqdas, one of the books of scripture written by Baha’i founder Baha’u’llah, emphasizes the importance of work:

“It is incumbent upon each one of you to engage in some occupation—such as a craft, a trade or the like. We have exalted your engagement in such work to the rank and worship of the one true God. . . . Waste not your hours in idleness and sloth, but occupy yourselves with what will profit you and others. . . . The most despised men in the sight of God are they who sit and beg.”

All I can say is that, if work is worship, then I must be really, really devout, because I’ve been working my butt off lately. Funny, though. Editing manuscripts all day long doesn’t feel all that religious.

Month 6, Day 10: Living a Virtuous Life

The Baha’i faith is big on encouraging believers to live their lives according to certain key virtues: love, justice, equality, tolerance, truthfulness, purity, service.

I like to think of myself as a good person (don’t we all?), even if I do have a few flaws, like impatience and irritability. But am I a virtuous person? Are you? How do we know?

In one book of his writings, Baha’i founder Baha’u’llah spells it right out for us, so here you go:

A Summary of Virtue

Be generous in prosperity, and thankful in adversity.

Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbor, and look upon him with a bright and friendly face.

Be a treasure to the poor,

an admonisher to the rich,

an answerer to the cry of the needy,

a preserver of the sanctity of thy pledge.

Be fair in thy judgment, and guarded in thy speech.

Be unjust to no man, and show all meekness to all men.

Be as a lamp unto them that walk in darkness,

a joy to the sorrowful,

a sea for the thirsty,

a haven for the distressed,

an upholder and defender of the victim of oppression.

Let integrity and uprightness distinguish all thine acts.

Be a home for the stranger,

a balm to the suffering,

a tower of strength for the fugitive.

Be eyes to the blind, and a guiding light unto the feet of the erring.

Be an ornament to the countenance of truth,

a crown to the brow of fidelity,

a pillar of the temple of righteousness,

a breath of life to the body of mankind,

an ensign of the hosts of justice,

a luminary above the horizon of virtue,

a dew to the soil of the human heart,

an ark on the ocean of knowledge,

a sun in the heaven of bounty,

a gem in the diadem of wisdom,

a shining light in the firmament of thy generation,

a fruit upon the tree of humility.

Got all that?

Month 6, Day 9: What Do Baha’is Believe?

Although followers regard the Baha’i faith as an extension of the earlier great world religions—including Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, and Islam—it does have some unique beliefs. Let’s have a look at a few of them.

1. Baha’is believe that all humanity belongs to a single race.

Okay, sure, we look different and we have physical traits that vary by place and ethnicity, but Baha’i says we’re all just human and, therefore, we are all equal.

As author Moojan Monen explains, “Baha’u’llah calls upon his followers to put aside everything that causes dissension and division (such as religious, racial and national differences) and to come together in unity, to replace narrow parochial and partisan loyalties with a loyalty to the human race as a whole.”

Most people today, outside of the KKK and other extremist groups, claim to embrace the fundamental equality of all people, or at least they give lip service to the idea. But Baha’i is the only religion in the world whose scriptures actually come right out and say that all people are equal.

2. The world needs a single unified international government and one universal language.

Here’s where the “new world order” stuff I mentioned a few days ago comes into play. Baha’is believe that the best way to promote and guarantee equality is to unite all people under one government and to have everybody speak the same language.

They don’t specify which language we should use, but they do say it doesn’t necessarily have to be one that already exists. In fact, many Baha’is suggest that it might be a good idea to invent a brand-new language—one everybody can learn—to avoid the petty problem of choosing an existing one and having to deal with the “My language is better than yours” crap that would inevitably occur.

I guess I could handle learning a new language—I mean, I’ve already done it a couple of times before. One world government, though? I’m not so sure.

The idea of a single world government sounds all cozy and utopian in theory, but truth be told, it kind of scares the shit out of me. When I picture one government, I don’t envision a gentle, equality-loving group of benevolent lawmakers; I see Big Brother or Nazis or something even worse.

So I don’t know about you, but I’m still a little bit iffy on the whole “new world order” thing. But Baha’i does have some other good qualities.

3. Universal education is essential.

Without education, Baha’is believe, we can’t become moral human beings, and we definitely can’t learn to perform useful work. So everyone—from childhood—needs access to mandatory, high-quality education.

I can easily accept that idea, if only because most of the people I run into in this world are as dumb as a box of rocks. Maybe if they had had a decent education as children, they would be able to do things like drive better and stop annoying the hell out of me on a daily basis. So universal education sounds good to me.

According to Baha’i writings, without universal education, “children will turn into weeds growing wild . . . knowing not right from wrong, distinguishing not the highest of human qualities from all that is mean and vile. . . .”

Untamed weeds. Yeah, that does sound like most of the children I see these days, so if universal education can prevent that, I’m definitely on board.

Overall, the Baha’i faith just seems . . . pleasant, which is exactly what I’m looking for at the moment. I’m sure I’ll find plenty to complain about as this month goes on, but for now, I’m a happy little Baha’i.