delegate election / 19 day feast

It was a wonderful day yesterday. At first, I went to a great “Soul food and brunch” devotional at my friend’s Nora Tönnis place. We were about 12 people there, I guess a few of them were not Baha’is and we shared some beautiful prayers, texts and songs. Then, in the evening, I went to the 19 day feast at the viennese Baha’i house. The feast was preceded by an election of 9 delegates for the national convention that will take place in April. We got lists with names of people eligible and I saw there were 215 people on the list! But only about 50 in the room. Finally, the amount of people that actually voted was 68. What can be done that this number is bigger next year?

ocean

I’m still amazed by the potential of the Baha’i research library Ocean. Anytime I was looking for some inspirational texts on a certain topic, Ocean never let me down. It’s is also, in my opinion, a very good tool for teaching the Faith to members of other religions.

This is what I found there today:

O Most Mighty Ocean! Sprinkle upon the nations
that with which Thou hast been charged by Him Who
is the Sovereign of Eternity, and adorn the temples of
all the dwellers of the earth with the vesture of His laws
through which all hearts will rejoice and all eyes be
brightened.

(Baha’u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 54)

You can find Ocean on the following website:

http://www.bahai-education.org/ocean/

problems with concentration

I have to study very hard these days because the exams are approaching. And I have found myself in a very difficult situation – it’s actually very hard to concentrate myself on the readings and I spend most of my days forcing myself to work and finding unnecessary chores that I have to accomplish before I can study. In brief, finding any excuse not to study.

At the end I always find a way how to concentrate again and study but the struggle is terrible.

I should maybe find some concentration techniques that I could try out?

check (czech) out the new “about barabora” page!

wanna learn more about me and my blog? just click on the “about barabora” bookmark up on the page!

love and hate can both lead to error?

I wanted to read something inspiring yesterday evening so I took the “Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah” out of the shelf. And eventually I found this question-raising quotation:

O My brother! When a true seeker determineth to take the step of search in the path leading unto the knowledge of the Ancient of Days, he must, before all else, cleanse his heart, which is the seat of the revelation of the inner mysteries of God, from the obscuring dust of all acquired knowledge, and the allusions of the embodiments of satanic fancy. He must purge his breast, which is the sanctuary of the abiding love of the Beloved, of every defilement, and sanctify his soul from all that pertaineth to water and clay, from all shadowy and ephemeral attachments. He must so cleanse his heart that no remnant of either love or hate may linger therein, lest that love blindly incline him to error, or that hate repel him away from the truth. Even as thou dost witness in this Day how most of the people, because of such love and hate, are bereft of the immortal Face, have strayed far from the Embodiments of the Divine mysteries, and, shepherdless, are roaming through the wilderness of oblivion and error.

(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 262, CXXV)

I couldn’t but be surprised: it was clear to me that hate leads only to more hate and it would eventually “repel him away from the truth”. But love? Incline us to error? At first, I couldn’t understand this. Finally, after a long reflection I came to a conclusion that our hearts must be so clear and empty of every emotion that they could reflect the Light coming from God.

I might be of course wrong and therefore would like to ask all of you, who read my blog, to help me in this investigation.

What do you think this quotation is about?

welcome on the net!

I would like to welcome a newcomer to the blog sphere – Nora von Kitzing has started to spread her word under

http://noravk.wordpress.com/

Nora, welcome! Looking forward!

to see the good in people

I realized something very important in the subway on my way to the university. As I was looking at the people around me I suddenly caught myself making a ready-made picture of their caracter in my head – and that only according to their looks, or cloathing or anything similar. That’s one of the biggest challenges for me – not to judge people too quickly and, what is even worse, only according to their looks. Still have to work on that one.

the importance of daily prayer

I was born in a non-Baha’i family. My mother always told me that there’s was “something above us”. As such, I have never doubted the existence of this higher force. But even though I tried to practice meditation with my mother and later on alone, I never got used to praying. As I embraced the Baha’i Faith with 18, I learned about the obligation of praying and reading the Writings every day. It’s still been a great struggle for me to remind myself every day of this blessing as it is no habit that I would have learned in early childhood. But I can see very clearly all the positive effects that this “soul food” has on my caracter and life. It makes me think more clearly about my behaviour and try to become better every day.

new design, new approach, new posts

I would like to slightly change the direction of my blog. After I’ve received a great deal of inspiring information at the Changing Times conference (especially through ththe talks presented by Mr. David Henderson), I would like to dedicate this blog more or less to a Baha’i perspective of my life and to Baha’i related issues.

Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any suggestions how I can make my blog better.

Thank you.

jak bara neumi rict ne

nekteri to uz o mne mozna vi, jini mozna ne, ale pravda je, ze ja proste neumim rict ne. je to hruza. mam totiz pocit, ze uz to slovo samo, ‘ne’, je neuctivy. proste ho nerada pouzivam. takze jsem samozrejme snadnou obeti ruznych nahanecu a poulicnich postavacu a prodavacu. dneska se mi jeden takovy atak od aktivistky ligy pro ochranu zvirat stal osudnym. ach jo. proste do me zacala hustit, i kdyz jsem ji rekla, ze uz jsem jednou s nekym o tom mluvila (coz je pravda!). byla mila, tak mi bylo blby ji odpalkovat. pak se k ni pridal jeste jeden ‘clovicek’, co mluvil dvojnasobne rychle, takze toho do me zvladl nahustit jeste vic. ten nebyl k zastaveni. ja jsem se jen nablble usmivala a prikyvovala. pak prisel dalsi typek, evidentne sjetej a  mlel neco o tom, jestli vypada lip v brylich nebo bez nich. ach jo. hustili tak dlouho, az to mne bylo  fakt blby jim rict ne, kdyz se tak dlouho snazili. takze to nakonec skoncilo tak, ze jsem jim prislibila prispevek 60 euro rocne, jen abych se jich zbavila. ach jo.