There is nothing sweeter in the world of existence than prayer. [From the writings of 'Abdu'l-Bahá]

Erica and I are co-tutoring a group who are studying Book 1 (Reflections on the Life of the Spirit) of the courses of the Ruhi Institute in our home on Wednesday nights. There are seven of us. Four are not Baha’is, three are Baha’is, and I am the only man in the group.

Baha’is across the globe invite their friends to join them in small groups in their own homes to study the Baha’i sacred texts and teachings by means of the Ruhi courses. It’s one of what we call our “core activities” - things that we do to encourage our friends, whether Baha’i or not, to embark on the spiritual journey with us. We also have devotional gatherings, spiritual and moral classes for children, and classes for 11-14 year old “junior youth”.

Last Wednesday we began to study the course unit on prayer. Oh, that was a sweet and wonderful thing to do, to spend an evening sharing and deepening our understanding about prayer. Sadly, Beverley and Lindsay were unavoidably absent, but Mary, Valerie, Fariba, Erica and I plunged into the ocean of the Word of God.

Mary is a practising Catholic and relates what we are studying to what she believes and how she acts. Valerie, on the other hand, is reserved and hasn’t said anything very much about herself - and there’s no call for her to do so, if she doesn’t want to. Both Mary and Valerie maintain a privacy about themselves in what seems to me to be a very English manner. We don’t necessarily want everyone to know our life histories, nor do we want to tell people what we think and believe before we have created a relationship of trust.

Mary attended a 9-week meditation course (using the CALM - community approach to learning meditation - handbook) that our Baha’i community ran in a neighbouring village hall; we held the last three sessions in our home and it was then that Mary, like others (including Beverley), felt able to be more open about her spiritual life. The whole group shared some deeply personal things and created a very strong bond at that time.

Ruhi Book 1 is rather different from the CALM meditation course. It is really designed for Baha’is who are new to the Baha’i Faith, so there are concepts and language in the course that need to be explained to those who aren’t Baha’is. Erica and I were rather anxious about this when we started this particular group, fearing that our non-Baha’i friends might find the concepts difficult or alien to their experience. For example, the first unit of Book 1 explains that Baha’is don’t confess their sins to priests or other individuals. Would Mary find that difficult to accept? Well, no, she accepted that Baha’is don’t do this, but she explained quite cogently why confession to a priest is important for her as a Catholic. And we moved right along.

Section 2 of the Book 1 unit on prayer mentions, without any explanation or introduction, the Long Obligatory Prayer. Obligatory prayer is a concept and practice which is important to Baha’is but which may be unfamiliar to Christians. So we took a little time to explain the nature of daily obligatory prayer and the three prayers from which Baha’is can choose one each day.

Section 1 asks participants to say who ‘Abdu’l-Bahá is. Again, OK for Baha’is, but Mary, quite understandably, asked, “Who is ‘Abdu’l-Bahá?” Time to say something about ‘Abdu’l-Bahá and to tell some stories of His life.

All of these potential difficulties turn out not to be difficulties at all. In fact they provide opportunities to share information about aspects of Baha’i life and history.

The intimate and trusting atmosphere of the study circle encourages participants to share their own thoughts and feelings about the subject under discussion. I spoke about the challenge I have in maintaining a consistent prayer life - some days prayer opens what a friend once described many years ago as the “trapdoor” that separates from the worlds of God; other days the trapdoor shuts on my head. The days the trapdoor opens, even if only a crack, bring an inner peace and joy that other days lack.

When I said this, Mary looked at me quizzically and said, “You’re very honest.” Well, what else was I to be?

At the end of the evening, Mary said that she now felt very comfortable sharing her personal feelings and experiences of prayer and the spiritual life. Valerie said little throughout the evening; I’m trying to figure a way of inviting her to open up (but without putting any pressure on her). At the moment it’s as if she’s observing the course but not fully participating.

To finish the session everyone read the following quotation out, and then we spent a few moments in silent meditation, so that we could absorb the meaning of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá’s words:

There is nothing sweeter in the world of existence than prayer. Man must live in a state of prayer. The most blessed condition is the condition of prayer and supplication. Prayer is conversation with God. The greatest attainment or the sweetest state is none other than conversation with God. It creates spirituality, creates mindfulness and celestial feelings, begets new attractions of the Kingdom and engenders the susceptibilities of the higher intelligence.

Technorati Tags: Baha’i, Bahai, Ruhi Institute, prayer, spirituality