NEW SPIN ON THE "LOTUS TEMPLE"

The inaugural Grand Prix of India has been heavily promoted with images of the Bahá'í House of Worship in New Delhi - popularly known as the Lotus Temple.

God moves in mysterious ways alright - though not half as mysteriously as Felipe Massa in that collision with Lewis Hamilton during the race! (Oh and do you see what I did with the title there?)

one planet, one people

In 2001, the St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art presented an exhibition focusing on the Bahá'ís. The exhibition ("One Planet, One People: The Bahá'ís - a Worldwide Community") ran from 2 June to 21 October. As well as a series of panels outlining the teachings and history of the Bahá'í Faith and a profile of its followers, it included a multimedia display, a series of works of art by Bahá'í artists and a "Tranquillity Zone" (a space for private prayer and meditation developed by Bahá’ís in Swindon which have been set up in hospitals, police stations and offices around the country). The exhibition was expected to attract over 40,000 visitors during its five month run. It was arguably the biggest public exposure of the Bahá'í Faith to take place in Scotland since the visit of 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Edinburgh in 1913 (a subject covered in depth by Anjam Khursheed in his 1991 book, The Seven Candles of Unity).

At the time, the exhibition was described as marks-ing the fruition of a long-term relationship which the Bahá'ís have had with the museum since it opened in 1994. Although at the time, it was disappointing that the Faith was not included in the museums "Gallery of World Faiths", a positive contact was maintained and developed. Interestingly, the event which finally prompted the museum to host the exhibition was a letter from a Bahá'í couple who visited the museum and who asked why there was so little about the Faith displayed there - which proves that some good can come out of complaining after all. The exhibition was partly sponsored by the Bahá'í Council for Scotland.

Noteworthy items on display were an original letter from 'Abdu'l-Bahá to Andrew Carnegie (on loan from the Internaional Bahá'í Archives in the Holy Land), a "One World Tree" and a model of the New Delhi Temple (commonly known as the "Lotus Temple"), borrowed from the Peace Museum in Verdun, France. The tree consisted of branches constructed by Scottish Bahá'ís around the country and was used to collect thoughts, reflections, hopes and aspirations for humanity which visitors to the exhibition could hang on it. I visited the exhibition three times: at its opening, around halfway through its run and on the closing day. During the exhibition's lifetime, we had the unforgettable events of September 11th of course. There was a clearly noticeable change in the nature of the thoughts, reflections, hopes and aspirations - and the emergence of new fears - that visitors wrote to leave on the "One World Tree".

To coincide with the exhibition, the Bahá'í Publishing Trust produced a 32-page full colour glossy booklet complementing the display panels, which could also be used as a general introduction to the Bahá'í Community in Scotland. This was entitled, A World-Embracing Vision. I was manager of the Bahá'í Publishing Trust at the time (based in Oakham). It was a difficult time for the Trust (wasn't it always?) but I was determined to get this booklet out. The goal was to have it ready for the launch of the exhibition, but that didn't happen. In the end, it was launched at the close of the exhibition and was adopted as a sort of legacy of the St Mungo display. I'm now sorry that I didn't put my name on the book. Admittedly some of it was adapted from existing sources (there are only so many ways you can describe a Bahá'í House of Worship after all) but I consider it the best (and most original) thing I worked on during my sixteen years at the BPT. Here's a review of the booklet, published on amazon.co.uk (not written by me, I hasten to add!):

Does exactly what it says on the cover (16 Jun 2009)

This booklet's aims are set out in its subtitling: "the Baha'is... who they are, what they believe, and what they do" and it covers the ground well. The text is comprehensive it is well illustrated with many photographs in colour, and the whole is well laid out and presented. It has a number of strengths that make it particularly useful in sharing information about the Baha'i Faith. It is tailored to the British (primarily the Scottish, but with more general application) community in its presentation of Baha'i history and activity. The photographs are well chosen and wide-ranging. The content includes a lot about what Baha'is have been involved with, what they actually do to try to help make the world a better place. In summary it is an excellent introductory work to be shared with enquirers and therefore a valuable resource. Not only that but many Baha'is will find it worth reading for their own information and will want to keep back a copy for their own bookshelves.

The themes of the eight panels were: "Being a Bahá'í"; "The Importance of Family"; "The Bahá'í Community in Glasgow"; "The Bahá'ís in Scotland"; "Bahá'ís in the United Kingdom"; "European Bahá'ís"; "Bahá'ís Around the World"; "Bahá'u'lláh". Although this kind of display is commonplace today, it was a real step forward for the Scottish Bahá'í community - and possibly the first time I'd seen this sort of display used for educational purposes. The banners are still in use at various events and locations around Scotland.

In addition a series of events was planned to run in parallel with the exhibition including seminars, arts presentations and discussion groups.

See the eight-panel display created for the Bahá'í exhibition here:
http://www.bci.org/scotland/intro/home.htm

Find out more about St Mungo Museum of Religious Life and Art:
http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/glasgow/stmungomuseum/index.html

JEWEL IN THE LOTUS

To the Quaker Meeting House, Queens Road, for a dayschool looking at correspondences between Hinduism and the Bahá'í Faith. This is led by Anupam Premanand, who has travelled here from Nivelles, Belgium (despite difficulties with the Eurostar service since the train crash outside Brussels earlier this week). Anupam came into the Bahá'í Faith in India some 19 years ago. He's a striking example of a phenomenon that often happens when people become Bahá'í, and after a while find themselves possessed of a deeper knowledge and greater love for the faith tradition into which they were born. The same thing happened to me when I became Bahá'í in 1979, having been brought up vaguely Protestant in the Church of Scotland.

Anupam has an infectious enthusiasm for the subject that conveys itself to everyone here today. There are more than 25 attendees, mostly from Leicester and its environs, a few from Nottingham.

While the Bahá'í World Centre in Israel has long sported buildings of architectural note and splendid gardens (recently named to UNESCO's World Heritage List in recognition of their "outstanding universal value" to the common heritage of humanity) it's the Bahá'í House of Worship in New Delhi that has arguably become the single most recognisable symbol of the Bahá'í Faith worldwide. The Lotus Temple (as it's popularly known) was dedicated to public worship in 1986 and has become a tourist landmark in India. Figures show it to be the most popular visitor attraction in the country after the Taj Mahal. Many people of Indian origin and heritage in Leicester have visited the Lotus Temple and have come away with a very positive impression of it. While that is undoubtedly a good thing, one may wonder how much such visitors glean about the history, beliefs and practices of the Bahá'ís themselves. Of course, a similar question may be asked of the Bahá'ís: how much do they know in their turn about Hindus and Hinduism - particularly in Leicester, where  Hindus are such a large and significant element in the local population? The purpose of this study day is to help the Bahá'ís understand and appreciate more about their Hindu neighbours: what they believe and how their beliefs impact on their lives. Bahá'ís are into finding correspondences between the world's religions as part of their programme for elimination of prejudice and building bridges between different cultures. This event is a good example of them doing just that.

Our day starts with an introduction to the religious and cultural diversity of India, and we see how the history and development of the Bahá'í community of India fits in that context. Since the earliest days of the Baha'i Faith, in the 1840s, some of its followers settled in India, having trading links with the city of Bombay (as it was then). Over the years, many teachers whose names are still celebrated in the annals of the Bahá'í community travelled the length and breadth of India, introducing the Bahá'í teachings to people of diverse backgrounds and interests. Up until the late 1950s and early 1960s, there were only a handful of Bahá'ís scattered around India, mainly in the north, mostly of Zoroastrian (Parsee) background. Indian adherents of Bahá'í would mostly have been educated people, living, working or studying in the major cities. However, after that period, the Bahá'í Faith became more widely known and better supported in the smaller towns and villages. In terms of numbers alone, India has the world's biggest Bahá'í community, at nigh on one-and-a-half million, although this pales into virtual insignificance when seen as part of that country's total population.

Now, many of the Hindu friends I talk with don't seem to mind the name, "Hindu" being used to describe themselves or their communities. But as I learned while writing the Council of Faiths leaflet on Hinduism, when it comes to the name of the religion they follow, many dislike it and prefer the term Sanatan Dharma - meaning the eternal path, way or law. Seeing this religion in that light helps Bahá'ís align their thinking with Hindus, as it brings out relations between the way the two religions see "progressive revelation" - a concept central to them both. Indeed, there are so many fundamental beliefs and practices in common between Bahá'ís and Hindus, many Bahá'ís have found (and, to go on the reactions here today, are still finding) that some of the more abstract teachings in their religion make sense when seen alongside comparable teachings in Hinduism. This is often to the surprise of many Bahá'ís who come from a background more influenced by the Abrahamic traditions of Judaism, Christianity and Islam - and surprise most often grows into delight at recognition of the similarities.

Before the end of the day, Anupram has us learning a Bahá'í prayer in Hindi and chanting a key verse from the Bhagavad Gita in Sanskrit! When one of these songs is over, someone wonders if there are any recordings of it available; "As long as it's not that one" I pitch in. Well, the comment sounded amusing on my side of the room! Here's a photo taken in the garden at the Quaker Meeting House of some of the attendees at this study day. Anupram is second from the right:

During one of our breaks, I bump into a few members of a chapter of the Friends of the Western Buddhist Order (FWBO) newly established in Leicester. They're holding their own meeting upstairs. In my job for the Council of Faiths I'm keen to establish, maintain and develop good relations with all kinds of religious and spiritual groups in the city, so I stop them for a chat. A little later in the afternoon, when their meeting is over, one of their number comes downstairs to hand out invitations that we might join them in their future day retreats or discussion evenings, which are held in the Quaker Meeting House. As their business is done for the day and they're in the process of packing up, I'm invited upstairs for a few minutes to tell them a little about the Council of Faiths and about my role with them. Positive contact is made today, and I come away with a phone number for follow up.