Baha'i Final

Part I

The human condition in Baha’i is that humans are born without sin, but occur it over time, which distances the soul from God. Humans have the power of free will and can use it to become closer to God through forms of worship. The soul is the animator of the physical body, which dies at death while the soul continues on into the afterlife with God.

The goal of Baha’i is to unite the world with peace. Another goal is to achieve peace and happiness in heaven with God in the afterlife. The goal of global oneness is the most important, and Baha’i is one of the only faiths where contributing toward unity and oneness in the community or globe is a religious obligation.

The way to get to these places is through worship. The forms of worship that are influential to the Baha’i people are prayer, meditation, and service. The prayer is directed toward God, the meditation is to reflect on daily deeds and actions, to try to improve one’s actions for the next day, and the service is directed toward those less fortunate than another. The service is the most important because of the faith’s desire for global unity, which starts in communal unity.

Part II

1.) Key Concepts

· Worship – Baha’is worship in the form of Prayer, Meditation, and volunteered service to those less fortunate. This is important to Baha’i’s because it is one of the only religions that has service toward others as a form of worship.

· Prayer – Baha’is pray to God. This is the same God Muslims, Christians, and Jews pray to, the one and only, all powerful God

· Meditation – Each individual is free to choose their own form of meditation, but the main message Bahá'u'lláh wanted to relay was to reflect on daily life and the deeds from each day.

· Service – Giving one’s self and one’s time to others is the most important form of worship other than prayer and meditation. Volunteering one’s time and self is giving those who have less than the volunteer, and creating a stronger community.

· Bahá'u'lláh – Bahá'u'lláh is the founder of the Baha’i faith and is supposed to be another of the prophets from the same god as Abraham, Moses, Jesus, Mohammed, Zoroaster, etc…

· Unity and Community – The community is a very important part of the faith, because Bahá'u'lláh’s vision is to unify the world.

· God – God is the omnipotent creator of the world, and everything we know. He is the Baha’i’s only deity, and all prayers, meditation, and services are for a person’s proximity to God.

· Heaven and Hell – Heaven and Hell are nearly the same as they are in the other monotheistic religions, in that Hell is complete suffering and Heaven is complete joy and happiness.

2.) Rituals:

Because one of the main ideas in Baha’i is to spiritually progress toward god, prayer and meditation are very important rituals in the religion. Bahá'u'lláh wrote many prayers for general use of the people of Baha’i for healing, spiritual growth, forgiveness, upcoming difficulties, and so on. Bahá'u'lláh also encouraged meditation to try to understand life’s mysteries and to reflect upon each day.

Another Ritual associated with becoming closer to god is volunteering within the community and having unifying social interactions. Bahá'u'lláh stated that it is time for the unification of the world and when one practices unifying communities it is a sign of devotion and helps in gaining proximity of the soul toward god.

3.) Sacred Text

- The most important text in the Baha’i faith is the Kitab-i-Aqbas. It is the most important because it is said to be the “Charter of the future world and civilization” and because it outlines religious practices, laws, personal status, social principles, and prophecies. The link between Bahá'u'lláh and the text is that Bahá'u'lláh wrote all of the Kitab-i-Aqubas, and while it may say something in a different way in another language, the meaning of the text is the same everywhere.

“THE time fore-ordained unto the peoples and kindreds of the earth is now come. The promises of God, as recorded in the holy Scriptures, have all been fulfilled. Out of Zion hath gone forth the Law of God, and Jerusalem, and the hills and land thereof, are filled with the glory of His Revelation.”(unsure of text taken from) This quote illustrates that Bahá'u'lláh is another prophet from the one God of the monotheistic religions, and that this new revelation is God’s newest order for human salvation.

“God grant that the light of unity may envelop the whole earth, and that the seal, "the Kingdom is God's", may be stamped upon the brow of all its peoples.” (From the Promise of All Ages) This quote is hugely important in Baha’i because a major part of the religion is unity of the community and the world. This quote shows the hope for unity and oneness.

“Through each and every one of the verses which the Pen of the Most High hath revealed, the doors of love and unity have been unlocked and flung open to the face of men.” (From the Promise of All Ages) This quote also illustrates the importance of unity within the Baha’i faith and that it is the next step for humanity to take according to Bahá'u'lláh’s word.

4.) Doctrine and Beliefs

There are a few key doctrines, but the one that sets Baha’i different from other religions is their importance on service toward others. A form of worship for Baha’is is volunteer work and service to those less fortunate. This service forms strong communities and social bonds within communities, which is the first step toward global unification. It also strengthens a person’s soul’s proximity to God. This can also be taught as a ritual of worship to God in that it is almost a requirement of the faith.

The cosmogony and cosmology in Baha’i are the same as the other major monotheistic religions, in that they believe in the earlier prophets and earlier teachings to an extent. They believe that all of the prophets before Bahá'u'lláh were from the same God and signaled a changing time in the world’s development, so the story of creation still remains in tact.

The eschatology in Baha’i is near the same as it is in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, in that a person’s soul joins with God in heaven upon their death. People can and usually do end up in the middle of Heaven and Hell because their life on earth wasn’t completely perfect and their effort in gaining proximity with God could’ve always been more. Baha’is don’t believe that a person’s afterlife is either filled with suffering and pain or happiness and joy, but rather can contain any amount of the combination because of their deeds in the mortal life.

5.) Religious Experience

Meditation and Prayer are means to becoming closer with God. The human life is considered to be a preparation for the coming life with god, almost like a baby growing in the womb. A person’s actions impact their proximity to god, and their relative joy in the afterlife. This is why being close to god is important to Baha’is, and ensuring their afterlife is filled with happiness.

The individual experience in the Baha’i faith is one of social improvement, which also leads to a betterment of the society and closeness to God. People are encouraged to do community service and volunteer work as another way to gain proximity to God along with meditation and prayer. This translates directly into the community because the community experience is much the same as the individual’s. Communities are united in that everyone is working toward a global unity, and that begins with creating a strong knit community within their own area.

6.) Ethics and Moral Conduct

The core ethical teachings of the Baha’i faith are almost the same as the second half of the Ten Commandments. This is because most of the moral conduct is on the guidelines of achieving social unity, and the only way to accomplish this is through respect toward one another. This is also significant to the people of the Baha’i faith because creating social unity is another way to get closer to god, and improve your spiritual status. Another part of the religious experience is that the believers don’t use any foreign intoxicants like alcohol or drugs. This is because the people are not supposed to be self indulgent, and intoxicants pollute the soul, which in turn distances one’s soul from god.