Word: bahai
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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...Registration. Traditionally one of the most harrowing experiences of freshman week. Everybody must brave the long lines, only to get inside Memorial Hall and be accosted by what seems like thousands of student groups, eachgrabbing anybody who comes by. Avoid the Bahai's, Trotskyite factions, Harvard Student Agencies (buy and wash your own sheets--it's cheaper and more reliable), the rifle club and those obsequious class ring salesmen...
...very eager to spread their message all over the world," Porter said. But when the audience is uninterested--as many roommates of Baha'is are--"you have to keep your mouth shut" to avoid alienating them. Ludwig Tuman, a bearded junior who is a former Christian, said Bahai's expect to spread "at least as much by deeds as words." While no figures of worldwide Baha'i membership exist, and the Harvard following is still small, Baha'i's claim some impressive present and past believers--including Seals and Croft, Dizzie Gillespie, Mrs. Randolph Hearst, and the last Queen...
Several tentative explanations for the intensity of belief suggest themselves. The phenomenon of "blissing out" is plenty real to worshippers of the 15 year-old Guru Maharaj Ji--but then, dazzling light can be hallucinated in a realistic fashion if one tries hard enough. The doctrines of the Bahai's and the Christians also seem plausible--if one really wants to believe them. So with the chanting of TM and Nichiren Shoshu; by sitting still and poising the mind on a single subject, determination can be channelled toward achieving previously hard-to-reach goals...