33 posts tagged with "living"

There is more to show about the holy sites and places visited, but first I want to share some miscellaneous photos of birds, fruits, trees, and a bee.

Four members of the "Holy Family" are buried in the second major development of the Bahá'í World Centre (the prior being the mausoleum of the Báb): Ásíyih Khánum (the "Most Exalted Leaf", "Navváb"), wife of Bahá'u'lláh, their children Bahíyyih Khánum (the "Greatest Holy Leaf") and Mírzá Mihdí (the "Purest Branch"), and Munírih Khánum, wife of 'Abdu'l-Bahá. Although it is not part of the scheduled tour of holy places, we felt it was essential that we pay our respects to these departed souls, who gave everything to the Faith.

Perhaps my most powerful emotion in direct reaction to the sites we visited during the pilgrimage was a feeling of peace and contentment. From 1853 to His death in 1892, Bahá'u'lláh lived a life of exile and periodic imprisonmnet. The lowest point was His imprisonment in the citadel of 'Akká in Syria — in the heart of a prison city built above the fetid ruins of the Cruisader capital of St. Jean de Acre.

In an epistle extolling the Ridván Gardens outside of 'Akká — more on which in a future post — Bahá'u'lláh wrote that "God's power and the perfection of His handiwork could enjoyably be seen in the blossoms, the fruits, the trees, the leaves and the streams." In that spirit, the time spent out in the various "Bahá'í Gardens" was an integral part of the spiritual experience of the pilgrimage — linking physical sensation with spiritual "praise" of creation †. No matter how handsome the building, I will always feel most alive and aware in natural (or semi-natural) settings.

We returned yesterday from our Bahá'í pilgrimage. Pilgrimage to the Bahá'í holy places is enjoined in Bahá'u'llá's Most Holy Book, if one is able to undertake the travel. I was careful to avoid having too many specific expectations, instead being open to all the experiences I would encounter. For some the pilgrimage is a transformative experience. I would not label it thusly for me, but it was certainly a meaningful and memorable experience that I hope I can use to galvanize myself to further personal development.

This post will be the first in a series of posts and photos about my experience. Many people have shared their stories on the web, and I don't expect mine to be particularly unique or illuminating. But compiling them here seems like the best way for me to digest the experience, and stretch it into the future.

For official public information on the "Bahá'í gardens" in Israel (two of the primary locations we visited), there is a very informative (and relatively new) public web site. As I compile my experiences, I plan on linking to many historical stories regarding the various places visited, which illuminate the importance of these sites to Bahá'ís.

If you know the voice of The Collector from The Simpsons, please invoke it now. Worst defeat ever (in soccer).

Two weeks ago our car was broken into at a park. Laptop, wallet, keys, and more stolen. We didn't think it could happen to us. We thought we were playing it safe. Oh, and my system backups were sorely inadequate.

Its 39° F outside on October 17, 2004 in Saint Paul, Minnesota. One year ago, in Austin, Texas, the low temperature was 63 with a high of 83. That is a middling temperature for October, on the low side. Halloween hit 90° (admittedly a record high). Today I saw snow flurries, something I saw once this past winter in Austin. I'm really in for it this year.

Lunch Break, Day Three at Augeo Affinity Marketing, Saint Paul, Minnesota — Things are going well at the new job. We've been in Minnesota about 7 weeks now, though I didn't re-start the job hunt in earnest till several weeks after we moved. Thus it was with some surprise that I received about phone calls and e-mails from about a dozen recruiters starting two weeks ago, and even more surprising when I received two excellent job offers last week. What a bounty to get two offers in the tech industry in this day and age!

Brief post... first one from the job I started today at Augeo Affinity Marketing. Title: Data Analyst/Programmer. More details later.