September 22, 2008 at 5:13 am (Baha'i, Career, Entrepreneur, Faith, Humanity, Mystery, Religion, Ruhi, Work, spirituality)
As difficult as it is to identify a beginning in the middle of a spiderweb, I’m going to try.
A few years ago, I started taking Ruhi Book 1. (It’s the first class in a series designed to help anyone interested – Baha’i or not – to learn about the Baha’i Faith.) I had been wanting to for a long time, and the manifestation of that desire was everything I wanted it to be: A weekly dip in the ocean of God’s grace, fertilizer to grow the spiritual connections among members of my community, and a spiritual fix to help me make it through days weighed down by materialsm and ego.
I loved it so much, I looked for other ways to increase my spiritual connection to the Word. I looked for Baha’i Audiobooks, but found none. Then one day, a substitute tutor happened to mention some recorded lectures by Adib Tahirzadeh on CD. That was all I needed to know. I looked them up as soon as I arrived home and ordered a set. They were wonderful! I could (and did) listen to each of the 11 CD’s several times over, learning something new each time I did.
When I finally finished them, I looked for more. This time, I found the website that contained all the books on tape recorded many years ago by Services for the Blind, available for free download. I thought I had found heaven! I loaded Paris Talks onto my iPod and went for a long walk.
It was intensely anticlimactic.
I like to think that I’m a tolerant person, especially when it comes to individual efforts within the Baha’i Faith. It turns out that when it comes to audiobooks, I am very intolerant.
The problem with the tapes were that:
- Each track was 45 minutes long, based on the length of the side of a cassette tape
- The readers occasionally turned their head away from the mic making it impossible to hear
- When a reader stumbled on a passage, they didn’t delete and do a retake, they just kept going.
- Page numbers were read aloud
- The table of contents was read aloud
- The sound was muffled sounding
For me, that was too many strikes. Every time I tried to listen, I’d find myself chanting “I could do this better. I could do this better. I could do this so much better.”
Then one day, the chant of “I could really do this better” was answered with ”Well, why not try?” Of course, that first thought was immediately followed with “Yeah right!” But over the course of several more walks on several more days, the same sequence repeated itself. Then one day, I stopped walking, looked at the sky and asked flat out, “Wait, are you saying you want me to try to do this?” I was immediately filled with such an overwhelming feeling of joy that I fairly floated home.
And that was the very beginning. Or one of them. So once again, Darrel was correct. Verdanta was created for one purpose: to create professional quality recordings of the Baha’i writings and make them available to as many people throughout the world as is possible.
It’s been an exciting journey so far, but lonely at times. I created this blog so I wouldn’t have to walk that journey alone. If you are, like me, always searching for more ways to incorporate the Word into your life, then perhaps you will accompany me, and together we can administer the healing prescription of Baha’u'llah throughout the world.
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September 9, 2008 at 12:34 am (Baha'i, Bliss, Career, Entrepreneur, Faith, Humanity, Mystery, Prayer, Reading, Religion, Service, audiobooks, business, life balance, spirituality, work as worship)
I thought I would summarize the breadcrumbs (aka “clues”) I have dropped so far, so you could see the trail of where I’ve already been laid out more clearly. There have been a few hints I’ve dropped without labeling them as such, so we’ll see if you were paying attention!
- I’m a Baha’i
- I love to learn
- I love to read
- This new career involves at least one activity that requires “mushin”
- It allows me total freedom to set my schedule
- It lets me use my unique talents (public speaking, organization, leadership and communication)
- It lets me serve humanity through the Baha’i Faith
- Books on CD
- It fills a need which I have identified in the world
- My mission through Verdanta is to “be always occupied with the mention of Baha’u'llah.”
- It involves building a business that aligns with the teachings of the Baha’i Faith
- My success depends on persistent, consistent, constant action.
- I have used the five steps described in “The Power of Prayer” to get where I am today.
That’s it so far. I’ll even toss out one more:
14. It requires the purchase of quite a bit of equipment that must be installed, configured, and learned.
Has anyone figured it out yet? Drop me a comment and let me know your guess!
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September 5, 2008 at 2:00 am (Baha'i, Faith, Prayer, Religion)
Tags: certitude, doubt, how do I pray?, how to pray, law of attraction, Power of Prayer
How do you know what the “right” thing to do is? How do you know if you’re doing what God wants you to do? When faced with a decision, how do you choose? I have mentioned several times my efforts to “walk the path” or “choose God’s Will over mine.” All these, to me, are more or less the same thing. And the answer to all of them is: prayer.
I’ve been a Baha’i all my life, so I’m not sure how other religions think about prayer, but for me, prayer is a very direct, personal, and practical thing. It helps me figure out what I’m supposed to do.
Shoghi Effendi, who was the great grand-son of Baha’u'llah, the founder of the Baha’i Faith, shared with us “a most concise, complete and effective formula for the Dynamics of Prayer.” I think this approach to prayer is somewhat different than how many religious approach prayer, so I thought I would share it. Here it is, in its entirety:
If we have a problem of any kind for which we desire a solution or wish help, we should use these five steps:
1. Pray and meditate about it. Use the prayers of the Manifestations as they have the greatest power. Learn to remain in the silence of contemplation for a few moments. During this deepest Communion take the following step
2. Arrive at a decision and hold to this. This decision is usually born in a flash at the close or during the contemplation. It may seem almost impossible of accomplishment, but if it seems to be an answer to prayer or a way of solving the problem, then immediately take the next step.
3. Have determination to carry the decision through. Many fail here. The decision, budding into determination, is blighted and instead becomes a wish or a vague longing. When determination is born immediately take the next step.
4. Have faith and confidence, that the Power of the Holy Spirit will flow though you, the right way will appear, the door will open, the right thought, the right message, the right principle or the right book will be given to you. Have confidence, and the right thing will come to meet your need. Then as you rise from prayer take immediately the fifth step.
5. Act as though it had all been answered. Then act with tireless, ceaseless energy. And, as you act, you, yourself will become a magnet which will attract more power to your being, until you become an unobstructed channel for the Divine Power to flow through you. Many pray, but do not remain for the last half of the first step. Some who meditate arrive at a decision, but fail to hold it. Few have the determination to carry the decision through, and still fewer have the confidence that the right thing will come to their need. But how many remember to act as though it had all been answered? How true are those words – Greater than the prayer is the spirit in which it is uttered, but greater than the manner in which it is uttered is the spirit in which it is carried out.
If you’ve read some of my other posts, you know that this is a process I apply to my life constantly. It is precisely how this venture turned from a nagging gripe of “I could do this better!” into a confident assertion that ”I am going to do this better!” I have already mentioned several of the elements in other blogs: using faith to overcome fear and doubt, exerting effort ceaselessly, and having determination. I speak from experience when I say this process works.
It really is that easy.
Try it and let me know how it turns out.
Peace.
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September 4, 2008 at 8:01 pm (Baha'i, Career, Entrepreneur, Faith, Reading, Religion, Work, business, livelihood, work as worship)
You’ve heard the story of the tortoise and the hare? In the past, I’ve always been the hare. I’d get excited about something I’d read, and dive in. The smell of burning rubber hung in the air as I hurled myself into a furious, frantic frenzy of activity. The problem was, as soon as my momentum petered out, I had nothing left. I’d quit with nothing to show for it.
Eventually, a wise man (my husband) pointed out that it’s never as easy as the books say, and if I wanted to pursue something new, great, but I had to do my homework. I had to ask hard questions of lots of people, including myself. That is when I began to learn the wisdom of the tortoise.
The tortoise plods along, with patience and persistence, passing each milestone in turn, without rushing, without panicking, without stopping. When the idea first came to me to start this business, I was at a complete loss. I had never started a business or worked anywhere except corporate America. I was the anti-entrepreneur. And there were a lot of new skills I needed, skills I had never even contemplated acquiring. It was very intimidating. I had no reason to believe I could do it. I only knew I had a very strong feeling that it needed to be done, and that I ought to try to do it.
So I did.
I started to do research on the Internet. I started checking books out from the library. I began talking to people. I began (shudder) networking. When I started, I knew nothing about anything, but I kept on reading and talking and listening. Slowly, ploddingly, I have learned many many new things. I have also found many wonderful (human) resources along the way. (My thanks to all of you – you are a gift and a treasure to me!)
One resource I found available to anyone in the United States is an organization called SCORE (Service Corps of Retired Executives). It is a volunteer agency within the Small Business Administration. They offer free counseling services to anyone wanting to start a business. They have given me a much needed reality check, helped me write a business plan, and given me a lot of encouragement along the way. Writing a business plan is not for the feint of heart! It’s a long, drawn out process requiring much patience, and if you’re wise, much help.
Throughout this journey, I have learned the importance of not rushing things. If it’s a good idea today, it will be a good idea tomorrow. If it is God’s Will that I do this thing, then it will happen. All I have to do is keep moving forward, keep exerting effort, keep identifying the next thing that could/should be done, and doing it. If I get stalled on one front, then I start chipping away at a different front. All things happen in God’s time, not ours, so we must patiently wait for Him to bring to us that which we need. And we must be detached enough to recognize it when it appears.
(Of course, if it is not God’s Will that I do this thing, then I don’t want to do it anyway, and I trust that He will block the way forward, pushing me in a different direction.)
Life in general is so much more pleasant as a tortoise. I’m more relaxed and forgiving with everyone, particularly my children. The truth is, patience comes more easily when you realize there is no need to rush.
If nothing else comes of this venture, I am grateful for what I have already gained from it. Thank goodness I’ve discovered the joys of being a tortoise!
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August 30, 2008 at 6:00 am (Baha'i, Career, Faith, Humanity, Mystery, Prayer, Religion, Service, Work, livelihood, perception, work as worship)
Tags: not-for-profit vs. for-profit
Inside my head
I’m struggling with a conundrum: does “service” necessarily imply “without compensation?” Must all service rendered to the Baha’i Faith be for free, or can one serve the Faith and earn a living from that service? I believe there exists in our community a perception that service to the Faith should be offered up voluntarily, without compensation. I admit to feeling that way myself. But then I had the idea for this venture, and suddenly I was no longer sure that the matter was so black and white. Here is why: there are some things which are simply too big for one person (or even a group of people) to undertake solely on a volunteer basis. Which means that if the job that needs to be done costs too much in the way of time, money or effort, it simply won’t get done. I’ve spoken with several people who think that what I propose to do is very important to the Baha’i community. Many before me have felt the same way. They tried but failed. (I’ve spoken to five people myself.) I’m guessing that the reason they failed is because they wanted to do it “as a service to the community,” aka “for free.” But those people had jobs and lives which didn’t leave them with enough time/money/energy to see the project through to the end.
I’m very fortunate because at the moment, I have all these resources and a supportive (non-Baha’i) husband who is willing to let me give it a go. However, if things don’t work out, I will eventually have to go find a paying job, which will doom my efforts as well.
I really want to see this venture succeed. Not for my sake, but for the sake of all the people who could potentially hear the name of Baha’u'llah through it. But that can only happen if Verdanta can pay for itself, with a little left over to contribute to the support of my family. Knowing all this, I am at peace running this business as a for-profit business.
Enter: “others”
I recently received an email from a colleague whose comment I thought meant he felt service to the Faith should be offered up for free. (I apologize if I’m misrepresenting his feelings on this; I may be projecting my own confliction onto him). The issue is, should this perception prove prevalent, it could cripple Verdanta before it even gets off the ground.
Baha’u'llah tells us to strive to ”render service to the world of humanity.” He also tells us that earning a livelihood “is a duty which, in this most great Revelation, hath been prescribed unto every one, and is accounted in the sight of God as a goodly deed.”
Abdu’l-Baha told us to “Trust in God and engage in your work and practice economy; the confirmations of God shall descend and you will be enabled to pay off your debts. Be ye occupied always with the mention of Bahá’u'lláh and seek ye no other hope and desire save Him.” (Baha’i World Faith, p. 375)
So earning a living is a goodly deed, and the mission of my proposed occupation is to “be always occupied with the mention of Baha’u'llah.” Often we think of these things as separate and distinct, but why? What would Baha’u'llah say about a job that earns money AND serves the Faith? I’d like to think He would be happy about it.
The other aspect of service is wanting to serve as many people as possible. If I do this on a volunteer basis, I will be limited in the number people I will ultimately serve. Why? Because I will have to go out and find a paying job, thereby leaving me much less time (and even less energy) to tackle something as ambitious as what I am proposing.
Service: free or fee?
The culture I live in – America – loves to think of everything in terms of either/or. But the heart and soul of the Baha’i Faith is based on “both/and.” Is science right or religion? They both are. Jesus or Muhammad? Both. So can I serve the Baha’i community and earn a living? I believe I can, but ultimately, it is up to Baha’u'llah. I lay all my affairs in His capable hands, and I pray that He only let me succeed if He deems this venture good and worthy.
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August 15, 2008 at 4:37 pm (Baha'i, Bliss, Career, Faith, Humanity, Mother, Mystery, Parenthood, Passion, Religion, Service, Wife, Work, spirituality, work as worship)
The other night, my son was complaining about his homework load. Dad tried to say that he (Dad) had to do homework for 8 hours a day and wasn’t that much worse? My son said, “Dad, you’re not doing homework, that’s just work. But you’re right, it’s not fun either. Work isn’t supposed to be fun.”
When he said that, I felt a little sad. He’s already figured out that work is something you do because you have to, not because you enjoy it. I interjected, “Well, it’s not fun for a lot of people, but that doesn’t mean you can’t find a job doing something you enjoy. In fact, that’s what you should try to do!” He answered, “Really? Pumpkin pie, Mom.” That’s his code word for “tell the truth,” like that was too crazy to be true.
A lot of people have talked about finding their bliss. I, like many others, enjoy a lot of different things. It’s more a matter of figuring out how to use some combination of those passions to support your family. I’ve done a lot of reading, taken some seminars, and explored several possible avenues as potential “blisses.” Unfortunately, for one reason or another, none of them have panned out. I tried teaching at the local community college. I’ve been offered my old engineering job back. I’ve volunteered on several projects, including service projects. I’ve even looked into real estate and stock market investing, right before both crashed. While the learning was valuable, the end destination was never the magic panacea I was hoping for. Something was always missing: time with my family, flexibility, stability, service to humanity…
Baha’u'llah told us that “any work performed in the spirit of service is exalted to the level of worship.” That could be anything from mopping floors to running a mega-corporation. As long as the work is done to the utmost of one’s ability, with the attitude towards that work being one of wanting to improve the lot of humanity, then it is just as praiseworthy as going to Church, or sitting in meditation, praying. I decided I wanted to find a job that lets me serve humanity in some fashion, preferably directly through the Baha’i Faith.
Elsewhere, I’ve listed the requirements of “my perfect job,” including that it must “engage my passions.” As long as those passions are engaged, I will have a job that I can look forward to doing, rather than doing it because I must. Serving humanity is one those passions. I really want to do something that will make the world a better place, in a rather concrete, tangible way, and will hopefully outlast my little time here on earth.
And that is Clue #7: My new career will allow me to serve humanity through the Baha’i Faith.
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August 13, 2008 at 5:22 am (Baha'i, Career, Faith, Mystery, Religion, Work, spirituality)
Tags: capacities, skills, Talents
Talents. We all have them, and they’re different for everybody. The tricky part is figuring out what they are. To do that, we need to try out a LOT of different things. Doubtless we’ll stink at 99% of them, but so what? That last 1% is what will change our world!
In fact, Baha’u'llah tells us that we are all given a unique set of talents, and that it’s our duty to discover, develop and use those talents in service to humankind. I’ve worked hard to do just that. On an earlier post, I mentioned that I had joined Toastmasters. My primary goal was to ward off brain atrophy, but I quickly discovered that I had a talent for speaking in front of people. That isn’t to say I didn’t have to work hard to develop that talent, just that I had more raw material to work with when I started out.
It’s important to note that you can have a talent for something without really enjoying it. That’s OK; you can keep searching! But don’t dismiss it, because each new talent is another tool in your tool box. And who knows? Maybe someday you’ll be able to combine your talents in a new and interesting way that is enjoyable. For example, I’m pretty organized. Consequently, I was asked to arrange meeting times and places for my community, and call the members to let them know. I held this post for years. In the beginning, I didn’t mind, because I was good at it. But after a while, I no longer enjoyed it. I started to wish I weren’t so organized…
I mentioned above that talents need to be developed. Practice and effort enhance a given talent. For example, shortly after joining Toastmasters, I took over as VP of Education. I wasn’t trying to develop leadership skills, because I didn’t have any. I just wanted to help a friend who was feeling overwhelmed. To my surprise, I discovered a latent talent for leadership. I worked to hone that talent, and a year later I was president.
Communication is another talent I have, developed through study, practice and conscious effort. I received a Master’s in Human Communication, and I learned a lot. I learned even more when I decided to teach it.
And that’s your clue for today: my new career lets me utilize my unique talents in service to humanity. Those talents include but are not limited to public speaking, organization, leadership and communication. And yes, my world is changing as we speak!
“O God! [...] Thou hast endowed each and all with talents and faculties…” (Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 100)
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August 12, 2008 at 5:29 am (Baha'i, Career, Faith, Mother, Mystery, Parenthood, Religion, Work, spirituality)
Tags: life, life balance, priorities
I’m a mom. I have two fabulous kids whose adorableness enticed me to give up a big, fat paycheck just to stay home with them. Power suits gave way to playdates. Sit down restaurants gave way to drive-thrus and happy meals. High speed Internet gave way to dial up (ack!).
Wait a minute, what was I thinking?
Oh yeah, I was thinking about sleeping past 5am. I was thinking about hanging out with my kids, watching them grow and learn and change. I was thinking about my life’s priorities. And I haven’t regretted my decision for a moment. (Disclaimer: I am in no way implying that my decision is the right decision for everyone, merely that it worked well for me.)
Fast forward to today.
My kids are in school full time, leaving me with a bit of time on my hands. Time which could be spent earning a paycheck. I tried teaching a Communication course at the local community college. But although I loved teaching, the grading load killed me. My little part time job, with its little part time paycheck, had me telling my kids “Sorry, Mommy can’t play right now. I have to grade papers.” I retired after two semesters.
In pondering my next career move, I was determined to think it through more carefully. My next job (and I would have another job, or so I was informed) would need to allow for total flexibility. It had to let me set my own hours (when the kids are in school or asleep), and also let me take off whenever the kids are off (for holidays, summer break, or sickness). I was completely inflexible about this: my next job had to have complete flexibility.
And that’s your next clue: My new career will allow me total and complete flexibility in setting my schedule.
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August 7, 2008 at 5:12 am (Baha'i, Career, Faith, Mystery, Religion, Work)
I’m sure that once you’ve been doing this for a while, it becomes easier to decide what to blog about.
I’m not there yet.
So let’s start with this; how about if I leave a breadcrumb trail of all the things that have led me up to where I am now? It’ll be like a mystery. You can try to guess what my prospective career is. The first clue is that I’m a Baha’i.
As a Baha’i, one of my goals in life is to teach others about the Baha’i Faith. I’m not talking about ramming it down your throat, because there are more than enough people out there searching for us. All I want to do is help those receptive souls find us.
Are you one of them?
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August 6, 2008 at 9:55 pm (Baha'i, Entrepreneur, Faith, Mother, Parenthood, Passion, Religion, Wife, Work, spirituality)
Today, another as yet unremarkable blog makes its debut in the blogosphere. I am struck by the optimistic futility roiling within me, hoping that someone someday will read my words, resigned to the fact that only a few select people ever will.
And so it is with joyful relief that I cast off my attachment to the outcome of this blog and get to the why, as in “why bother?”
This blog will record a journey (my journey, of course!) as I strive to live a life consistent with my values and passions. Check out my “About me” page for more on what that looks like.
Only time will tell.
Welcome to my life.
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