THRILLED AND ECSTATIC

Well, to all reading this, the great news is, I'm getting married! To the sweetest guy on the planet (I'm only slightly subjective :) ). We're having a Bahá'í wedding in Ottawa, Canada on June 1st and will just have a mini-honeymoon at Chateau Laurier for two days as we don't have any vacation time for now. But later on, will surely take advantage of a friend's offer to use his house in the Bahamas! :) Yes life is rough. Anyway, here is a preliminary photo of the married couple to be :)

… the reality of man is … the center where the glory of all the perfections of God shine forth… -- ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, Some Answered Questions, p. 196.

One must see in every human being only that which is worthy of praise. When this is done, one can be a friend to the whole human race.
-- Selections from the Writings of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, p. 169.

RAINBOW OF ATTRIBUTES

Stand.
Follow with your eye upwards
Passing the thorns with oblivion
To the beauteous blossom
Of summoned springtime

Consider the smile or sigh
As your senses are pleased
By the reflection of light
Limited to the one undulation
Of red

Sit.
Follow with your eye throughout
Forgetting the harshness of the bark
To the loftiness of the foliage
Of flowing flutter

Ponder on the breeze of belief
Which swells in your soul
By the reflection of light
Limited to the one undulation
Of green

Kneel.
Follow with your eye thither
Ignoring the dirt and the dust
To the impregnable space
Of vainless vastness

Reflect on the exultation
Of utter nothingness within
Before the reflection of light
Limited to the one undulation
Of blue

Prostrate.
Follow with your heart beyond
Pretermitting human imperfections
To the Primal Prism
Of the All-Encompassing One

Know of the felicity
Of submission to greatness
To the Source of light
Containing all undulations

In one.

Haifa, Nov ‘93

Music: a combination of notes and silence

To listen to a piece of music that would have no silence in it, no pauses, no rests, would be very stressful. We wouldn't know when to breathe, there would be nothing to rest upon in order to start up again. In other words, rests are a crucial part of music itself. Music without rests would no longer be music, but a piece of chaos.

Likewise, in our life, we need silence. If we spend our lives rushing from one thing to another without taking time to contemplate or our life, on our decisions on the way we are leading our life, then we are indeed living a life of stress and chaos. We need to pause, to sit and contemplate. Just allow ourselves to be, alone, silent, and still. This will give us energy to move on to the next step.

I would like to take this opportunity to quote from the Writings of 'Abdu'l-Baha, Son of the Founder of the Bahá'í Faith. About meditation, He says the following:

"...the sign of the intellect is contemplation and the sign of contemplation is silence... Through the faculty of meditation man attains to eternal life... 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. In that state man abstracts himself: in that state man withdraws himself from all outside objects; in that subjective mood he is immersed in the ocean of spiritual life and can unfold the secrets of things-in-themselves...

This faculty of meditation frees man from the animal nature, discerns the reality of things, puts man in touch with God.

This faculty brings forth from the invisible plane the sciences and arts. Through the meditative faculty inventions are made possible, colossal undertakings are carried out; through it governments can run smoothly. Through this faculty man enters into the very Kingdom of God.

(Abdu'l-Bahá, Paris Talks, p. 174)

Even nature pauses and remains silent for the winter months before it is born again in the splendour of spring. Let us learn to appreciate silence and make contemplation part of our daily lives.

The beauty of nature

And at whatever time I contemplate the mountains, I am led to discover the ensigns of Thy victory and the standards of Thine omnipotence. -- Bahá’u’lláh


LAUDATE (Eilat, Israel, Oct '93)

Ragged edges, grand growth
Your marvellous massiveness of
Rock
Stands
Imposing your strength
With peaceful stateliness
And static power

With dominant ascendance
Your patient peaks
Protrude repeatedly
Extending far, far, far.
With calm and silence
You claim the space of vastness
Entrancing your beholders,
Enraptured and belittled
As they sift into
Near nothingness
While your scabrous slopes

Stand
Imposing your bedrock
While men submit
To your hold on land
While they capitulate
By contouring, overpassing
Your impregnable demesne,
Yielding yet delineating,
Disposing of you as they please
To Jordan, Egypt, Arabia and Israel

With foolishness they attempt
To divide your invincible substance
For while they perish by thousands
Your power is proven
As centuries surrender
To the serene eternity
Of your salient station

For within you lies
The impenetrable mystery
Of His mounting Kingdom.

Please God, He may enable thee to inhale the sweet fragrance of His Day, to partake of the limitless effusions of His grace, to quaff thy fill, through His gracious favor, from the most great Ocean that surgeth in this Day in the name of the Ancient King, and to remain firm and immovable as the mountain in His Cause. -- Bahá’u’lláh

loving diversity

Diversity is wonderful. In the world of music, this is a known fact. There is nothing more boring than music that would always sound the same. In the world of nature as well, diversity is not only welcomed but sought out. Why is it then, that in the world of human beings, some believe that diversity is something to be avoided at all costs? To prefer people who are "like us", who think "like us" and who dress "like us", is a phenomenon that is strange when one thinks it. Any composer will never write a symphony for the violins only or he would put the audience to sleep. There is nothing more gorgeous than the diversity of musical instruments. And the tuba is not better than the violin, just different.

Similarly, to build a house, one needs all types of professional people, the architect, the mason, the plubmer, the electrician. Without every one of them, the house will not be perfect. Yet, for some reason, there is still prejudice in the world, praising those who are "educated" and putting down those who are not. But what is to be "educated" in reality?

But some humans like to form clans, the us versus them, we are the same, you are different. We are "educated", you are not. Learning better can really start in the family. Children can be discouraged from saying "my father is better than your father", and later on in life, we continue the same thought process by saying "my religion is better than your religion" or "my university is better than your university" which, at the international level just translates into "my country is better than your country".

In music, all notes are equal and all notes are beautiful. But if you play the same note over and over, nobody would want to hear your composition. What makes music beautiful is contrast and diversity. It's the different note, the unexpected one, that pleases the ear. It's the fast rhythms followed by slow, it's long notes followed by short ones. Diversity and difference are key to a good piece of music. Let's also make it the key to living in our beautiful world.