Karma Palden Dorje - Sasha

I have friend visiting family and providing support in Israel right now, .

In her recent Facebook post she shared her visit to and enjoyment of the Bahai Gardens in Jerusalem. Considering world politics at the moment, is it worth a reminder that the Bahai Faith was the second attempt in the Islamic faith to create a world movement that would unify all religions in one faith? Baha-u-llah the founder of the Bahai faith, came from Islam. His intent was a new religion that would unite all religions of our world and that would create governance through one central world government, based in Jerusalem.

Instead, the Bahai movement became ANOTHER religion. The first attempt at resolving differences in belief with Islam was of course the Sikh religion, founded by Guru Nanakin the 15th century . His vision in resolving differences between Hinduism and Islam in India, was a new Credo that included both Hindu and Moslem beliefs. That too became ANOTHER religion...sadly in our day, still in competition with Hinduism and shunned by Islam. Is there a message here? Perhaps it is in the beauty of the Bahai gardens, the gardens that attracted my friend. The gardens and the Bahai temples are always open and accessible to all. There is no priest, Rabai or preacher there. There is no one to preach or to seek to influence those outside of their circle of the faithful ... Or is it the beauty of the flowers in these gardens that we should turn to, to show us the way ?

I have friend visiting family and providing support in Israel right now, .

In her recent Facebook post she shared her visit to and enjoyment of the Bahai Gardens in Jerusalem. Considering world politics ATM, is it worth a reminder that the Bahai Faith was the second attempt in the Islamic faith to create a world movement that would unify all religions in one faith? Of course Baha-u-llah the founder of the Bahai faith, came from Islam. His intent was a new religion that would unite all religions and that would create governance through one central world government, based in Jerusalem.

Instead the Bahai movement became ANOTHER religion. The first attempt at resolving differences in belief with Islam was of course was the Sikh religion, founded in the 15th century by Guru Nanak. His vision in resolving differences between Hinduism and Islam in India was a new Credo that included both Hindu and Moslem beliefs. That too became ANOTHER religion...sadly in our day still in competition with Hinduism. Is a message here? Perhaps it is in the beauty of the Bahai gardens that attracted my friend. The gardens and the Bahai temples are always open and accessible to all, there is no priest, Rabai or preacher there. There is no one to preach or to seek to influence those outside of their circle ... Or is it the beauty of the flowers in these gardens that we should turn to, show us the way ?

“I cry for my country”… this Earth...

"My people are not threatened by silence. They are completely at home in it. They have lived for thousands of years with Nature’s quietness. My people today recognise and experience in this quietness the great Life-Giving Spirit, the Father of us all. It is easy for me to experience God’s presence. When I am out hunting, when I am in the bush, among the trees, on a hill or by a billabong; these are the times when I can simply be in God’s presence. My people have been so aware of Nature. It is natural that we will feel close to the Creator. Our Aboriginal culture has taught us to be still and to wait. We do not try to hurry things up. We let them follow their natural course – like the seasons. We watch the moon in each of its phases. We wait for the rain to fill our rivers and water the thirsty earth…
When twilight comes, we prepare for the night. At dawn we rise with the sun.
We watch the bush foods and wait for them to ripen before we gather them. We wait for our young people as they grow, stage by stage, through their initiation ceremonies. When a relation dies, we wait a long time with the sorrow. We own our grief and allow it to heal slowly.
We wait for the right time for our ceremonies and our meetings. The right people must be present. Everything must be done in the proper way. Careful preparations must be made. We don’t mind waiting, because we want things to be done with care.
We don’t like to hurry. There is nothing more important than what we are attending to. There is nothing more urgent that we must hurry away for.
We wait on God, too. His time is the right time. We wait for him to make his word clear to us. We don’t worry. We know that in time and in the spirit of dadirri (that deep listening and quiet stillness) his way will be clear.
We are river people. We cannot hurry the river. We have to move with its current and understand its ways.
We hope that the people of Australia will wait. Not so much waiting for us – to catch up – but waiting with us, as we find our pace in this world.
If you stay closely united, you are like a tree, standing in the middle of a bushfire sweeping through the timber. The leaves are scorched and the tough bark is scarred and burnt; but inside the tree the sap is still flowing, and under the ground the roots are still strong. Like that tree, you have endured the flames, and you still have the power to be reborn.
Our culture is different. We are asking our fellow Australians to take time to know us; to be still and to listen to us."

~ Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann
(Aboriginal activist, educator, artist and 2021 Senior Australian of the year)