Letter to Some Children of the Kingdom

'Abdu'l-Baha and child in Haifa, Israel

I'm an uncle again. My dear sister in-law delivered a healthy baby girl early this morning, a Halloween baby. Sppooooky. I now have three nieces and one nephew all of whom have a unique characteristic, their parents are from different ethnic backgrounds. African and European, Chinese and European and Indian and European. They've been referred to as the rainbow generation with affection and pride. I was thinking of this brand new baby girl today with a smile and thought I might write her a letter and then realized that with my other niece having a birthday coming up this weekend, I should just include them all.

Dearly loved children of the Kingdom.

I hope that you all know how loved and infinitely lovable you are. Your uncle is crazy about you.
Each of you is a beautiful, unique creation in the image of God. What does that mean? Basically it means that you are like a mirror and that when you try and be the best person you can be that people can see God in you and it makes people happy and the world more wonderful. I want you to know something, the fact that your mommy and daddy look different or come from different places in the world or speak different languages is a really cool thing. Some people have not figured that out yet, but it's true. Each of you is like a little picture of the future, a future when all humanity will be united in love and unity the way that your mommy and daddy are today. You may run into people in your life that see you in a different way, a bad way. Don't listen to them, listen to your uncle because he knows what he is talking about. You don't have to chose your mommy's background or your daddy's background because you are both and also you are much more, you are a child of the kingdom. What does that mean, a wise man named 'Abdu'l-Baha said this long ago:

"These children are neither Oriental nor Occidental, neither Asiatic nor American, neither European nor African, but they are of the Kingdom; their native home is heaven and their resort is the Kingdom of ABHA."

Never forget who you are. Never forget.

Love and hugs,
Uncle Phillipe

Homevisits in Da 'Hood

As an elected member of the local governing council (or Spiritual Assembly) of the Baha'i community of Boston I am reminded of the responsibility to which I have been called by God:

"The Lord hath ordained that in every city a House of Justice be established wherein shall gather counsellors to the number of Baha...They should consider themselves as entering the Court of the presence of God, the Exalted, the Most High, and as beholding Him Who is the Unseen. It behoveth them to be the trusted ones of the Merciful among men and to regard themselves as the guardians appointed of God for all that dwell on earth. It is incumbent upon them to take counsel together and to have regard for the interests of the servants of God, for His sake, even as they regard their own interests, and to choose that which is meet and seemly. Thus hath the Lord your God commanded you. Beware lest ye put away that which is clearly revealed in His Tablet. Fear God, O ye that perceive."
(Baha'u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 29)

Over the years that I have served on the Spiritual Assembly and meditated on these Words of Baha'u'llah, my heart has filled with love for the men, women, youth and children of this city, a city blessed by three visits from 'Abdu'l-Baha during his travels in North America in 1912. Here are a few of the comments he made will he was in Boston:

"Progress is of two kinds: material and spiritual. The former is attained through observation of the surrounding existence and constitutes the foundation of civilization. Spiritual progress is through the breaths of the Holy Spirit and is the awakening of the conscious soul of man to perceive the reality of Divinity. Material progress ensures the happiness of the human world. Spiritual progress ensures the happiness and eternal continuance of the soul. The Prophets of God have founded the laws of divine civilization. They have been the root and fundamental source of all knowledge."
(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 142)

"Strive, therefore, to create love in the hearts in order that they may become glowing and radiant. When that love is shining, it will permeate other hearts even as this electric light illumines its surroundings. When the love of God is established, everything else will be realized. This is the true foundation of all economics. Reflect upon it. Endeavor to become the cause of the attraction of souls rather than to enforce minds. Manifest true economics to the people. Show what love is, what kindness is, what true severance is and generosity. This is the important thing for you to do. Act in accordance with the teachings of Bahá'u'lláh."
(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 238)

"Bahá'u'lláh teaches that the foundations of the divine religion are one reality which does not admit of multiplicity or division. Therefore, the commandments and teachings of God are one. The religious differences and divisions which exist in the world are due to blind imitations of forms without knowledge or investigation of the fundamental divine reality which underlies all the religions. Inasmuch as these imitations of ancestral forms are various, dissensions have arisen among the people of religion. Therefore, it is necessary to free mankind from this subjection to blind belief by pointing the way of guidance to reality itself, which is the only basis of unity."
(Abdu'l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 286)

In addition to his visiting Boston and speaking at various sites around the city, 'Abdu'l-Baha also addressed a letter to the Boston Spiritual Assembly in which he wrote:

"...you must strive to make Boston a fruit-garden and a rose-garden. Verily, this is not difficult with the Lord. The beloved of God in this mortal world are each a spiritual trumpet. They breathe the breath of life and thus confer upon them that are dead in negligence and ignorance, the life eternal. They are the merciful physicians who bestow upon the spiritual patients eternal healing. The city of Boston hath great preparation, but the endeavor of the righteous is needed and the efforts and strivings of the free are necessary. For unless the seed is sown, the bounty and blessing will not be attained; until the tree be planted, the fresh fruit will not be produced; unless the candle contact with fire, it will not ignite; and until a light dawn, the darkness will not vanish. Therefore, the beloved of God must sow the seeds and plant the fresh plants in that garden. They must ignite the extinguished candles so that the purpose may be attained and the beloved intent unveil its face.In the spirit of humility and supplication do I beg and implore at the Divine Threshold and seek for you assistance and providence."
(Abdu'l-Baha, Tablets of Abdu'l-Baha v3, p. 632)

I just read a fascinating piece in the Boston Globe about an initiative to have city officials and employees go door to door in the neighborhood hit hardest by violence. Here is a selection from the article:

In the next few weeks, police officers, city employees, and street workers will blanket pockets of Dorchester and Roxbury that have had a high concentration of slayings, shootings, stabbings, and robberies in the past three years. They will knock on doors and ask parents if their children are involved in after-school programs. They will offer transportation to nearby community centers for children whose parents are afraid to let them go out alone.

They will also help form neighborhood councils of church leaders, business owners, and residents that would examine problems in the neighborhood and discuss them with police and city liaisons who will report back to police and other city supervisors.

All city departments will be asked to participate in the effort either by identifying employees who live in the four neighborhoods and can go door to door or by providing employees for a few hours to administer surveys to middle school students about how to improve after-school programs, said Barbara Ferrer, executive director of the Boston Public Health Commission, which will work with the initiative. (Read the whole article here)

This initiative reminds me of the current practice of Baha'is throughout the world of doing spiritual outreach through visiting people in their homes and the potential this practice has in urban areas like Boston where a spiritual perspective on the practical challenges people are facing could be offered. Like Abdu'l-Baha in 1912, Baha'is in Boston have a message to give to the people of this city that harmonizes with the needs of a human race making the difficult transition from spiritual adolescence to spiritual maturity. This maturity will be embodied in a social order based on the reality that humanity is a single people and this planet is our common homeland.

Unintelligent Remarks

Children dancing at a school I visited in Ghana, December 2006.

In a bit of racial irony, I'm celebrating having passed my mid-terms as a first year doctoral student only to hear yet again that I'm not as intelligent as whites. This wisdom comes to me from no less than a pioneer in DNA research. Here are a few samples of the comments of this man as quoted in the New York Times:

A profile of Watson in the Sunday Times Magazine of London quoted him saying that he is "inherently gloomy about the prospect of Africa" because "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours - whereas all the testing says not really."

While he hopes everyone is equal, "people who have to deal with black employees find this is not true," Watson is quoted.

"There is no firm reason to anticipate that the intellectual capacities of peoples geographically separated in their evolution should prove to have evolved identically," Watson wrote. "Our wanting to reserve equal powers of reason as some universal heritage of humanity will not be enough to make it so." (Read the whole article here)

In fairness to this man, he did have a sudden epiphany and has apologized for his remarks. This reminds me of a couple of similar comments that I have heard over the years. In one case a co-worker of my mother assured her that her son must have gotten accepted to Harvard because he was a minority because my mother was "not that smart". In another case I was discussing issues of race with a philosophy professor and was told emphatically that "no important philosopher would come out of Africa in the next 20 years." Finally in a lengthy email exchange with a few years ago with someone in the neurosciences, I had to endure the assertion that if relationships had been discovered between race and certain inherited health problems, then why couldn't there be a relationship between race and intelligence. In this case it was a Baha'i that was saying this. My arguments that there was neither scientific evidence nor a single sentence in the Baha'i Writings linking race and intelligence could convince this misguided soul.

That blacks are fundamentally idiots and/or immoral beings has echoed throughout both scientific and popular discourse for centuries now and is a favorite pretext for all number of personal behaviors and public policies that are detrimental to our well being and very survival.
I don't think that it is a coincidence that this story in the Times has come out during the Jena 6 crisis and similar acts of institutional aggression towards black people, especially the young.

The remarks made by this "scientist" are hardly remarkable as they represent a view held by many people, including some blacks themselves! That our various miseries might have something to do with 500 years of enslavement and colonization at the hands of an allegedly superior race seems to not fit into the race=intelligence equation. Of course, perhaps I am not smart of enough to recognize that I'm just inferior.

"Thy day of service is now come. Countless Tablets bear the testimony of the bounties vouchsafed unto thee. Arise for the triumph of My Cause, and, through the power of thine utterance, subdue the hearts of men. Thou must show forth that which will ensure the peace and the well-being of the miserable and the down-trodden. Gird up the loins of thine endeavor, that perchance thou mayest release the captive from his chains, and enable him to attain unto true liberty. Justice is, in this day, bewailing its plight, and Equity groaneth beneath the yoke of oppression. The thick clouds of tyranny have darkened the face of the earth, and enveloped its peoples."
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 92)

The Noose

It appears that nooses are popping up all over a America these days. But we don't really have a problem with race anymore, right? CNN will have a special addition tomorrow night that addresses this issue. I encourage people to get together, watch it and discuss it and then leave your reactions on this blog. If you can't watch it tomorrow (like me), find a way to record it. Go tell it on the mountain people and let everyone know so they can watch. Baha'is, I especially encourage you to watch this special. Racism: It ain't over yet! Read about The Noose here.

"No less serious is the stress and strain imposed on the fabric of American society through the fundamental and persistent neglect, by the governed and governors alike, of the supreme, the inescapable and urgent duty -- so repeatedly and graphically represented and stressed by 'Abdu'l-Bahá in His arraignment of the basic weaknesses in the social fabric of the nation -- of remedying, while there is yet time, through a revolutionary change in the concept and attitude of the average white American toward his Negro fellow citizen, a situation which, if allowed to drift, will, in the words of 'Abdu'l-Bahá, cause the streets of American cities to run with blood, aggravating thereby the havoc which the fearful weapons of destruction, raining from the air, and amassed by a ruthless, a vigilant, a powerful and inveterate enemy, will wreak upon those same cities."
(Shoghi Effendi, Citadel of Faith, p. 126)

Set Free Every Slave

Photos of the Shrine of the Bab, December 2006 after my trip to Ghana.

O Lord! Thou art the Remover of every anguish and the Dispeller of every affliction. Thou art He Who banisheth every sorrow and setteth free every slave, the Redeemer of every soul. O Lord! Grant deliverance through Thy mercy, and reckon me among such servants of Thine as have gained salvation.
- The Báb

The Baha'i World is drawing near to one of it's great Holy Days, the birth of that Gate of God (In 'Arabic The Bab). In Boston, on Friday evening we will commemorate the birth of the Prophet-Martyr and Herald of the Promised Day, the Primal Point who referred to Himself in this way:

"I am," thrice exclaimed the Báb, "I am, I am, the promised One! I am the One whose name you have for a thousand years invoked, at whose mention you have risen, whose advent you have longed to witness, and the hour of whose Revelation you have prayed God to hasten. Verily I say, it is incumbent upon the peoples of both the East and the West to obey My word and to pledge allegiance to My person."
(Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 315)

And even more eloquently proclaimed:
"I AM the Mystic Fane which the Hand of Omnipotence hath reared. I am the Lamp which the Finger of God hath lit within its niche and caused to shine with deathless splendour. I am the Flame of that supernal Light that glowed upon Sinai in the gladsome Spot, and lay concealed in the midst of the Burning Bush."
(The Bab, Selections from the Writings of the Bab, p. 74)

So many things could be said about this noble youth of Shiraz and His magnificence, but tonight as the streets of Boston literally run with the blood of black and brown men, women and children, I remember the Bab as the one who prayed to God for the freeing of every slave. I remember the Bab as one who honored an Ethiopian as one of only two who journeyed with Him on His pilgrimage to Mecca, who witnessed Him publicly and boldly proclaim His mission in the spiritual heart of the Islamic World. I think of the mass incarceration of black men in America and of stories of the Blessed Bab imprisoned in Mah-Ku where He was denied even a lamp. I think of the testimony of Mulla Husayn, the first person on the planet to recognize the bearer of a new Revelation from God and how the Words of the Bab and the heroism of those who followed Him make this young black man feel sometimes:

"'This Revelation, so suddenly and impetuously thrust upon me, came as a thunderbolt which, for a time, seemed to have benumbed my faculties. I was blinded by its dazzling splendour and overwhelmed by its crushing force. Excitement, joy, awe, and wonder stirred the depths of my soul. Predominant among these emotions was a sense of gladness and strength which seemed to have transfigured me. How feeble and impotent, how dejected and timid, I had felt previously! Then I could neither write nor walk, so tremulous were my hands and feet. Now, however, the knowledge of His Revelation had galvanised my being. I felt possessed of such courage and power that were the world, all its peoples and its potentates, to rise against me, I would, alone and undaunted, withstand their onslaught. The universe seemed but a handful of dust in my grasp. I seemed to be the Voice of Gabriel personified, calling unto all mankind: "Awake, for lo! the morning Light has broken. Arise, for His Cause is made manifest. The portal of His grace is open wide; enter therein, O peoples of the world! For He who is your promised One is come!"
(Shoghi Effendi, The Dawn-Breakers, p. 63)

I'm also reminded of a remarkable comment made in a letter from the Universal House of Justice to an individual regarding the relative suffering of the Baha'is in Iran as compared to that of blacks in America:

"Concerning the comparison you have drawn in your letter between the situation of the Bahá'í community in Iran and the African-American people generally, it is noteworthy that, while the plight of the Iranian friends is grievous, it is in some essential aspects more tractable. Furthermore, since the community is organized around the Divine Teachings and empowered by the Word of God, the effects of victimization on the Iranian believers is likely to prove, in the long view, less devastating than the effects of that which has been inflicted upon the African-Americans."
(The Universal House of Justice, 1996 Apr 01, Baha'i Public Role in Plight of African-American Males)

When I think about the Bab, I think about His prayer and what it means for "slavery's children" who are not yet free, in Boston, in America and throughout the world.

The Psychodynamics of Self

This is that old picture of the author of this blog trying to look philosophical. I was told by a friend it looks like a mug shot after an arrest. You decide.

I'm busy working away at some things that I've been wanting to do for awhile about "double consciousness" but can't get to it at the moment as I'm doing my homework. I don't like to keep the readers of this blog waiting a long time for a post so I thought that I might offer a couple of little bits of the first paper I wrote as a doctoral student. It was entitled, "Divine Possibilities: A Baha'i Philosophy of Therapeutic Transformation." Here are a few quotes:

“ It is the integrated and dynamic interplay of soul and body that constitutes “the self”. “Self” is the word that will be used from this point on to refer to the individual. Because the self is essentially spiritual in nature, the potential for the development of its divine possibilities is unlimited. When the development of these possibilities is constrained or not adequately encouraged, it results in disorders of the self that can take on spiritual, psychological and biological forms. However, in Baha’i teaching the inherent capacities of the soul are not diminished by illness. Illness is viewed as being analogous to clouds that obscure the light of the sun. Behind the clouds, the sun shines as brightly as ever, but its full brilliance and warmth is hidden. Disorders of the self require healing through means that are both spiritual and material in order to harmonize with its true nature and have the greatest effect.”

“For a Baha’i the most significant relationship of the self is with God. Through prayer, meditation, study of scripture and investigation of physical phenomena through reason and science, the self strives to know more and more about its Creator. Meditation in particular leads to intuitive knowing:

...while you meditate you are speaking with your own spirit. In that state of mind you put certain questions to your spirit and the spirit answers: the light breaks forth and the reality is revealed...Through the faculty of meditation man attains to eternal life; through it he receives the breath of the Holy Spirit -- the bestowal of the Spirit is given in reflection and meditation. The spirit of man is itself informed and strengthened during meditation; through it affairs of which man knew nothing are unfolded before his view. Through it he receives Divine inspiration; through it he receives heavenly food. Meditation is the key for opening the doors of mysteries. (Abdu'l-Baha,)

This kind of intuitive knowing could be understood as a form of “attunement”. Self psychology, object-relations theories and contemporary neuroscience each emphasize the contribution attuning empathically to the emotional state of another has to positive development of the self.”

“For a Baha’i, love is more than a feeling. Love is the force of attraction that holds the whole universe together, that makes all things possible. The self owes its very existence to love. This Baha’i scholar defines “therapeutic love” as the force of attraction that occurs between therapist and the client, based on consciousness of their common humanity and the beauty of God’s image that each recognizes in the other. This kind of love feeds and is fed by the love of both clinician and client for themselves as individuals. Assisting clients to experience giving and receiving this kind of love is another significant task of the transformative therapeutic relationship. The developing bond of mutual attraction and attraction to self described here could be understood as “attachment”. Like knowing, the generative potential of love is experienced early in life in the caregiver-infant relationship.”

“Because love is a force of attraction, it sets things in motion. Love motivates individual, communal and institutional behavior, expressions of the third power of the self, “will”. The exercise of will motivated by love and guided by knowledge is how this author defines “choice”. It is this capacity for choice, transcending biological, psychological, and social conditions, that distinguishes human beings from other forms of life. One of the dehumanizing aspects of the distress that may bring clients to therapy is the degree to which it has caused them to lose faith in the possibility of choice. Without recognition of the power of will, the power of choice, there is no ground for hope for our clients or for the therapeutic process itself. What practitioners sometimes refer to as client “strengths” often are examples of the clients exercising “will” making the best choices they could under the worst of circumstances. In transformative therapeutic encounters a significant task is for the client and clinician learn together how to exercise their will, in order to create a relationship motivated by love and guided by the knowledge they discover together in a cyclical and dynamic process similar to what the self experiences over the course of life.”

Anyway, I don't know if I really have any idea what I'm talking about, but it was a fun exercise to try and articulate what a Baha'i understanding of the psychodynamics of the self might be. Hopefully my professor will think it was halfway decent writing as well! Wish me luck (smile).

The Other Greatest Generation

Photograph of a remarkable man, Louis G. Gregory

Much has been made of the "Greatest Generation", the World War 2 generation and yet another documentary has come out as many of those who lived through the horrors and heroism of that time join their brothers and sisters in the Kingdom of Glory. There is another "Greatest Generation" that I often think about that I have yet to see a huge documentary project focused on, the "Freedom Generation", those who lived and loved through the decades immediately after the ending of chattel slavery in the United States. It was this generation that produced spiritual giants such as Hand of the Cause of God Louis G. Gregory. That a people, fresh from two centuries of systemic, mass trauma and dehumanization could do anything other than perish is remarkable. But this generation did much more than survive, they thrived. This generation founded schools and colleges to educate themselves and their children, they successfully ran for public office, they created and supported black owned businesses of all kinds, and founded vibrant faith communities and social organizations, many of which exist to this day. Yes, they suffered discrimination and domestic terrorism on a daily basis, yet they also succeeded against the odds. When I think about this group of freed African slaves must have experienced, I wonder if I would have been able to do the same under those circumstances. I don't know if I would have survived, but because they did, I am here today. This is why it is not necessary for me to seek a sense of self-worth in a remote and romanticized African past. My heroes and heroines are home-grown, right here in North America. This is the people to which I belong, that new creation, black Americans. I'll end with Baha'u'llah's testimony regarding the spiritual qualities of the early believers in Persia. I think it could be equally applied to what I am calling the Other Greatest Generation:

"Be fair: Is the testimony of those acceptable and worthy of attention whose deeds agree with their words, whose outward behavior conforms with their inner life? The mind is bewildered at their deeds, and the soul marveleth at their fortitude and bodily endurance. Or is the testimony of these faithless souls who breathe naught but the breath of selfish desire, and who lie imprisoned in the cage of their idle fancies, acceptable? Like the bats of darkness, they lift not their heads from their couch except to pursue the transient things of the world, and find no rest by night except as they labor to advance the aims of their sordid life. Immersed in their selfish schemes, they are oblivious of the Divine decree. In the daytime they strive with all their soul after worldly benefits, and in the night season their sole occupation is to gratify their carnal desires. By what law or standard could men be justified in cleaving to the denials of such petty-minded souls and in ignoring the faith of them that have renounced, for the sake of the good pleasure of God, their life and substance, their fame and renown, their reputation and honor?... With what love, what devotion, what exultation and holy rapture, they sacrificed their lives in the path of the All-Glorious! To the truth of this all witness. And yet, how can they belittle this Revelation? Hath any age witnessed such momentous happenings? If these companions be not the true strivers after God, who else could be called by this name? Have these companions been seekers after power or glory? Have they ever yearned for riches? Have they cherished any desire except the good pleasure of God? If these companions, with all their marvelous testimonies and wondrous works, be false, who then is worthy to claim for himself the truth? I swear by God! Their very deeds are a sufficient testimony, and an irrefutable proof unto all the peoples of the earth, were men to ponder in their hearts the mysteries of Divine Revelation. "And they who act unjustly shall soon know what lot awaiteth them!"..

(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 181)

You Decide

Say: Observe equity in your judgment, ye men of understanding heart! He that is unjust in his judgment is destitute of the characteristics that distinguish man's station.
(Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 204)

I just watched some video of the President of the Hip-Hip Caucus being arrested by Capitol Police while trying to enter a hearing about the Iraq War. I'm not sure what I think yet nor how I would have handled the situation if it had been me in his place. It was difficult to watch though on many levels. I haven't tried to link to video on this blog yet, so hopefully it will work. I'll let you watch and decide for yourself what you think.

Here is a bit of a press release regarding charges against this minister being dropped that include a link to the video:

Charges Dismissed Against African-American Minister Targeted and Tackled by Capitol Police

WASHINGTON - October 1 – Rev. Lennox Yearwood, Jr., president of the Hip Hop Caucus and peace activist, announced today that the D.C. Superior Court dismissed charges against him of assaulting a Capitol Police officer while in line to attend a hearing in the House of Representatives. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) represents Rev. Yearwood in his case. On September 10th, Rev. Yearwood waited in the line for several hours in order to watch General David Petraeus testify before Congress. Minutes before the start of the hearing, Rev. Yearwood was told by Capitol Police that he would not be allowed to enter. When Rev. Yearwood questioned why he was being excluded from the open hearing, he was surrounded by officers and tackled to the ground. He suffered torn ligaments and a sprained ankle. Rev. Yearwood received letters of support from organizations including Amnesty International and the Black Leadership Forum. Americans across the country contacted the Capitol Police Department and members of Congress about the extreme and unjust charges. The entire incident was caught on film and is available here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=qiradcejA6o