To show you how much I have Indian on the brain lately (I DJ-ed at the Neah Bay Baha’i Council Fire on the Makah Reservation on Aug 14-16), I though that Trio, whose hit “Da Da Da” was a worldwide hit back in the 1980s, was an Indian band. Why, because of this line: ”ich lieb dich nicht du liebst mich nicht aha aha aha.” For some reason the German sounded Indian with all those “ch” sounds.
Here is my playbox from Neah Bay.
As you can read (click on photo for large), I played a lot of Pow Wow music and native chanting. I also got some great suggestions for new acquisitions to my music collection from Ferris Paisano, American Indian Baha’i whose home is on the Nez Perce in Idaho. -gw
I’ve shared pictures and a few videos already from this year’s Neah Bay here on Baha’i Views. But as visitors to “bahaivews” on YouTube may have discovered, there are a lot more video clips available that convey more of the feeling of what it was like. Here is a second helping, featuring clips by Native American Baha’is who spoke at the Council Fire.
My clips are raw, unedited. I still haven’t learned how to edit. While the “stage” where the presenters presented leaves something to be desired in terms of aesthetics, the overall setting at the Hobuck Beach Campground is awesome in every sense of the word. I found the presentations over the weekend to be tremendously moving. -gw
Makah Indian Scott Tyler tells the story of how the Baha’i Faith was introduced to his family and other families in Neah Bay which was the location of the first Baha’i Spiritual Assembly established on an Indian Reservation in the U.S.
Mary Gubatayao-Hagen tells about the integration of new believers into the Baha’i Faith in Alaska where she is a member of the Baha’i National Assembly. It is through building relationships that the community grows.
A reference to the significance of the Baha’i Revelation to native peoples in this very brief excerpt from a talk by Ferris Paisano at the 2009 Neah Bay Baha’i Council Fire.
In an emotional moment during his presentation, Ferris speaks of the importance of Baha’is meeting the need of the children and youth of the world for spiritual education.
This excerpt from a talk given by Ferris notes the Baha’i approach to expansion and growth. Baha’is don’t go out as “experts” looking to “save the souls” of others, but go out as humble learners inviting seekers to join with them in building the Kingdom of God on earth.
Of course, religion doesn’t have a monopoly on awe and inspiration. The story that science tells, the story of nature, is awesome, and some people get plenty of inspiration from it, without needing the religious kind. What’s more, science has its own role to play in knitting the world together. The scientific enterprise has long been on the frontiers of international community, fostering an inclusive, cosmopolitan ethic — the kind of ethic that any religion worthy of this moment in history must also foster.
William James said that religious belief is “the belief that there is an unseen order, and that our supreme good lies in harmoniously adjusting ourselves thereto.” Science has its own version of the unseen order, the laws of nature. In principle, the two kinds of order can themselves be put into harmony — and in that adjustment, too, may lie a supreme good.
Robert Wright’s writings are a source of great current interest. Note the Op-Ed in today’s Sunday New York Times. (Thanks Todd Brogan for calling this to my attention.)
Baha’i blogs have covered Wright’s contributions and Baha’is show up with regularity in the comment sections of articles devoted to his perspective. -gw
I love Sabby’s use of techno in the opening of her latest vid. May every devotional meeting, study circle, reflection meeting, children’s class, and junior youth activity the Ruhi Institute process be recorded for posterity in some way! The growth of the Faith is of great historical significance. What the Baha’is are doing constitute the most important activities happening in the world today. The world is being united soul by soul in precisely the same way the world was revivified and unified in the days of the Manifestations of God of the past, historically known and unknown. Thank you, Sabby, for this. -gw
Oh, these answers on Yahoo Answers below are just too cute. I get such a chuckle out of conspiratorial thinking, whether it is of the American down with the Illuminati ”No World Order” variety or the Iranian “Anti-Baha’i Society” a.k.a. Hojjatieh kind. -gw
Ruhi is a word that is much used among Baha’, given the prominence of the Ruhi Institute process guiding the activities of the Baha’i community around the world. It’s helpful to be reminded of the meaning of the root word, “ruh,” which this catchy blog title does neatly. -gw
The Ruh of Brown Folks
Rūḥ (روح) means “soul” in Arabic, Persian, Turkish, and other languages.
I fly back to the US tomorrow and hope to have some time to reflect and write on Egypt soon. For now, I do want to take the time to wish a happy Ramadan (albeit a day late) to those who observe. Ramadan mubarak – may it be a blessed month!
Concert: A Musical Introduction to the Baha’i Faith
(Special Event)
All are welcome to a family-friendly concert featuring vocalist/guitarist Suzanne Ament in her special combination of music and conversation describing the basic tenets of the Baha’i Faith.
Who’s Suzanne Ament? An American who toured the Soviet Union back when that just didn’t happen much and whose songs once were played on official Moscow radio. -gw
It was 1978 – post-détente, and rough going for U.S.-Soviet relations. A group of American students was noteworthy, and Ament’s singing was broadcast by Moscow radio.
Constantly on the move, they traveled by plane, train and bus and weren’t in one place long enough to really get to know any Russians. But they practiced talking with their Russian tour guide, who, Ament says, although quite obviously a KGB plant, taught her several Russian songs. And everywhere they went they’d hear music.
What is “Jawaiian”? Jawaiian is Jamaican plus Hawaiian.
New from hip hop’s Blue Scholars is this:
Sabzi’s comment in an interview in today’s Seattle Times is surely Baha’i-inspired. -gw
The other thing is, with this record, I wanted there to be a global thing. It’s about being a global citizen, and identifying ourselves as part of that generation. Because there’s people our age in other cities in the word, like Johannesburg, Tokyo, London, Addis Ababa, that all have something in common, thanks to the internet. So this project is like the tip of the iceberg in what we hope to explore in the future. Yeah, we’re from Seattle, that’s where we happen to be, but the nation we claim is something that is global that people are contributing to all over the world.
Liam’s Mom, our own dear Cornelia, sang her version of the prayer “Blesssed Is the Spot” after her Ruhi study class with Deb recently. Singing is dear to Cornelia’s heart. She hesitated being recorded singing the first song she learned, but she gave in to earnest petitioning. -gw
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“Blessed Is the Spot” is a Baha’i prayer universally recited, chanted and sung all over the world. See this blog post with lovely video as evidence.
