Word: baha
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People hear about the Baha'i Faith in many different ways. One way that a person can investigate it is by attending "firesides"--informal gatherings held by Baha'is wherever they live. In this area, for example, firesides are held each week in Cambridge, Boston, Somerville, Brookline, and in many surrounding towns. A short talk by a Baha'i is always followed by informal discussions, sometimes lasting well into the night...
...Baha'is in this area come from many different backgrounds. Some were Protestants or Catholics; others were Jews, Hindus, or Muslims. There are high school and college students, housewives, retired people, and many who work at a variety of jobs, professional and non-professional; there is a lady in Cambridge who knew 'Abdu'l-Baha when he came to this country. Some come originally from other parts of the United States or the world--Iran, India, Thailand, and Samoa. Many of them were Baha'is in their native countries but a few first heard about the faith when they came...
...differences among the Baha'is here reflect the growing diversity of the faith on a national and world level. In recent years, rapid expansion has occurred in many parts of the world. The United States community has doubled itself in the last year; this growth has come significantly among youth and among numerous minorities, including blacks, Chicanos and American Indians...
...Baha'i teachings rest on a foundation of unity: the oneness of God, though He is called by many names, and the essential unity of all religions. Baha'u'llah wrote: "All the Prophets of God abide in the same tabernacle, soar in the same heaven, are seated upon the same throne, utter the same speech, and proclaim the same Faith." The animating purpose of all the original teachings as they were lived and ennunciated by the Prophets was to promote the unity, harmony, and understanding oF mankind. To this end, all the Messages contain both spiritual and social parts...
...During Baha'u'llah's forty years' imprisonment, he wrote over a hundred volumes and tablets setting forth his spiritual and social teachings. These included tablets sent to the principle political and ecclesiastical rulers of the time: Queen Victoria, Napoleon III, Kaiser Wilhelm I, Czar Alexander II, Kaiser Francis Joseph of Austria, President Grant, Pope Pius IX, Sultan 'Abdu'l-Aziz of Turkey, and Nasir'd-Din Shah of Iran. In these letters, he proclaimed the coming of a new Manifestation of God and exhorted them to lay down their arms and take hold of that which would be conducive...