Over Spring break I made an actual sort of physical cultural encounter with the culture that I was studying. My family is Baha’i and my mother and sister were participating in the spiritual fast that occurs in the month of March. The fast is a process where people participating, don’t eat or drink from sunrise to sunset. Like many religions, the Baha’i faith believes in fasting as a way to cleanse the soul. The fast, which was designated by Bahá'u'lláh, the founder of the Baha’i faith, proceeds over a nineteen day period from March 2nd to March 20th and it directly proceeds the Baha’i new year and coincides with the Baha’i month of Ala (meaning loftiness). Because of the times it proceeds and coincides with, the fast is meant as a time of rejuvenation and preparation for the New Year.
Of all my years of considering myself a Baha’i, I had never participated in the fast, mainly because I did not fully understand the meaning behind it. However, seeing my sister and my mother maintain such self-discipline for their faith, I began to grasp a better understanding of what they were doing and what they were working to achieve. My mother would read a daily prayer from one of the prayer books before she had her meal. The prayer was not particular; it was something she chose that was personal to her. For instance a common prayer that my sister and I memorized and was often repeated in my house when I was younger was the healing prayer:
“Thy name is my healing, O my God, and remembrance of Thee is my remedy. Nearness to Thee is my hope, and love for Thee is my companion. Thy mercy to me is my healing and my succor in both this world and the world to come. Thou, verily, art the All-Bountiful, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.”
Bahá'u'lláh
This is a prayer said when you are wishing someone who is in physical or emotional pain will get better.
I actually felt selfish eating my food when they couldn’t and watching my mom give thanks, "cleansing" herself, and healing herself in a way by saying a prayer, which ever one she chose, made me feel like that was something I should and wanted to be a part of. Actually being aware of the process that my sister and mother went through, asking my mother about the process, and actually making participant observation about the fast, gave me a greater appreciation and fascination for the tradition. It helped to shape my own beliefs about how I think it is important to engage in other people’s traditions and give thanks. Even though it was my own house I felt a little like a stranger watching them say a prayer and not being a part of it and because it was so important to them it made me really want to be a part of it and I think that is why it would have been important to participate in the process.
2 comments:
This really opened up my eyes to the Bahai faith, and showed me that there were actually more a handful of people that celebrate it. Reading about the Bahai faith, it really seems like the religion that holds the most common sense (without insulting any other religions). In Bahai, every faith is right. I’m not saying everyone should turn to Bahai, but if more people were to have that outlook that “different isn’t wrong”, then there wouldn’t be as many religious wars.
I also enjoyed reading about you story about Dwight from “The Office” being a Bahai. I also love that show, and this reemphasizes that a lot more people then you would think practice Bahaii. I think it is very important more celebrities to practice Bahai, because it would make it easier for them to get the word across about the Bahai faith. Bahai is an up and coming religion for what I got, and if more celebrities like Dwight practice Bahai, it will become even bigger. I really like this blog because it gives me a general idea of who celebrates Bahai and gives specific examples like “Dwight” which shows me that you did your research and proved that in the next decade or so, the Bahai faith will get even bigger.
I was really moved by your blog. I have never heard of the Baha'i Faith before and from what I've learned from your blog, it seems to be a very beautiful religion.
What I enjoyed most was how this was a personal journey for you and you basically gave the reader an inside look into this journey. I felt like I was with you discovering this religion. It really is very good! This is a very good representation of a cultural encounter. I also enjoyed how you included personal experience along with the information about the religion. Learning about your relation to the religion through your family was a good decision on your part because it gave the reader a better idea of where you were coming from and your relation to the religion. Another positive aspect of your blog is that I believe it relatable to many different people. For example I really liked your post on "Dwight" from the "The Office." That stood out to me right away and I think that just with that you will reach many people.
Basically I believe that your blog is very interesting and you did a wonderful job of not only giving the reader a history of the Baha'i Faith, but you took the reader on a journey with you to understand this Faith beyond its symbols. Good job!
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