Befriended Stranger

What a pleasant surprise! God is all glorious and I experience His presence in most unexpected ways. I got this morning two comments on my blog from a very special friend who years ago touched my heart in immeasurable and lasting ways. Dawn and her brother Grant came to my hometown in the summer of 1991 to be the first travel teachers in the southwest of Bulgaria. In fact, they arrived on the anniversary of the Bab’s declaration, May 23rd, only few months after I had learned about the Baha’i Faith in the summer of 1990 in Odessa, Ukraine.

I was a young merchant then (no pun intended) selling pirated music (at the time the idea of copyright was very foreign to a former communist country) on the main street of my home town. Dawn and Grant helped me set a table with Baha’i literature and we would talk to all people who stopped by and invite them to a fireside inside the store at the end of each day.

I was a newly declared (over the phone) Baha’i, with very little understanding of what it actually meant. Dawn was my first deepening teacher. I still treasure the memory of a talk with her, sitting on a bench next to these tables, listening to her guidance that the source of Faith is in the Writings and that one must pick spirituality and stick with it and not flutter back and forth between the material and the spiritual. I have no clue if she had an innate instinct of what I needed to hear or it was simply God guiding her in diagnosing what would the struggle — and the healing — of my life be but I am truly grateful for this surprising reunion of the hearts this morning… For Dawn to me has always been one of those treasured examples of the ability to connect heart to heart, just as Abdu’l-Baha exhorted us.

From a talk Abdu’l-Baha gave in Washington, DC, on November 6, 1912:

O Thou compassionate Lord, Thou Who art generous and able! We are servants of Thine sheltered beneath Thy providence. Cast Thy glance of favor upon us. Give light to our eyes, hearing to our ears, and understanding and love to our hearts. Render our souls joyous and happy through Thy glad tidings. O Lord! Point out to us the pathway of Thy kingdom and resuscitate all of us through the breaths of the Holy Spirit. Bestow upon us life everlasting and confer upon us never-ending honor. Unify mankind and illumine the world of humanity. May we all follow Thy pathway, long for Thy good pleasure and seek the mysteries of Thy kingdom. O God! Unite us and connect our hearts with Thine indissoluble bond. Verily, Thou art the Giver, Thou art the Kind One and Thou art the Almighty.
(Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 397)

Thanks to a hint from BahaiViews, I followed anxiously this morning the performance at the triple jump of Nelson Evora, a Baha’i sportsman from Portugal who grew up in Capo Verde. The Olympics website by NBC shares the following about Nelson Evora:

Man of faith
Evora is a member of the Bahá’í Faith, which is a religion founded in 19th-century Persia, emphasizing the spiritual unity of all humankind. According to Bahá’í teachings, religious history has unfolded through a series of God’s messengers who brought teachings suited for the capacity of the people at their time, and whose fundamental purpose is the same. There are about six million Bahá’ís in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide.

Thine eye is My trust, suffer not the dust of vain desires to becloud its luster. Thine ear is a sign of My bounty, let not the tumult of unseemly motives turn it away from My Word that encompasseth all creation. Thine heart is My treasury, allow not the treacherous hand of self to rob thee of the pearls which I have treasured therein. Thine hand is a symbol of My loving-kindness, hinder it not from holding fast unto My guarded and hidden Tablets…. Unasked, I have showered upon thee My grace. Unpetitioned, I have fulfilled thy wish. In spite of thy undeserving, I have singled thee out for My richest, My incalculable favors…. O My servants! Be as resigned and submissive as the earth, that from the soil of your being there may blossom the fragrant, the holy and multicolored hyacinths of My knowledge. Be ablaze as the fire, that ye may burn away the veils of heedlessness and set aglow, through the quickening energies of the love of God, the chilled and wayward heart. Be light and untrammeled as the breeze, that ye may obtain admittance into the precincts of My court, My inviolable Sanctuary.
(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 322)

If this is too long, try this:

Let your eye be chaste, your hand faithful, your tongue truthful and your heart enlightened.
(Baha’u'llah, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 138)

Oh, and if you are interested in the recipe for disaster, reverse the instructions above and watch for the consequences…

We rarely (probably never) know what the harvest of the seeds we sow will be. All we know is we need to keep sowing if we want to harvest. However we might reflect on the purpose and meaning of marriage, Baha’u'llah gives us a very clear guidance:

Enter into wedlock, O people, that ye may bring forth one who will make mention of Me amid My servants. This is My bidding unto you; hold fast to it as an assistance to yourselves.
(Baha’u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 41)

My four and a half year old daughter gave me a terrific lesson yesterday, one of those moments I was grateful for and humbled by — when the student becomes the teacher.

Yesterday morning I took my two beautiful daughters to the “orange park” — one of the treats I have for them — by putting them on a little bike trailer. They have fun on the way there and back, and fun at the actual playground. It is one of those special moments and places we have that we know is ours, and we all look forward to it.

As we arrived at the playground on that sunny Sunday morning, the only other people there were a mother and her two and a half year old son, hesitating whether to stay and play or go on with their own bike ride. My girls’ energy, abundantly shared as soon as they arrived, apparently convinced the boy that he also wanted to stay and play.

The special moment I wanted to share about took place when my Sofia went to a plastic tunnel where she and her sister Juliet often like to sit and hide. The little boy joined and sat comfortably in the tunnel, as his mother was carefully observing from aside. Then, Sofia knowingly announced: “This is a Prayer Station” to which the mother of the boy replied with a surprised “Oh, that is nice”. I did not want to intervene too much as the beauty of the moment was that Sofia made this announcement on her own, unprompted. All I did was I asked Sofia what she would do in a prayer station, to which she replied that she would say prayers, and when I encouraged her to start, she proudly sang:

Say: God sufficeth all things above all things, and nothing in the heavens or in the earth but God sufficeth. Verily, He is in Himself the Knower, the Sustainer, the Omnipotent.

Then she asked the boy if he knew the one that starts with “Oh God, guide me” Before long the game switched into a more Olympics-like direction with proper gymnastics and play in the sand, yet for me as a parent, that precious moment was an unexpected reward and inspiration — that my little / big girl was so confidently sharing what she is learning in her spiritual education — the joy of saying a prayer and praising God. It was humbling to observe the purity of my girl’s soul and how she applied her own creativity in this imaginary — and a very real — game of finding connection between the physical and the spiritual.

As I was biking back home, I was thinking to myself about the idea of a prayer station. Wouldn’t it be great to have a prayer station where we all could go and refill on spiritual power. And isn’t that exactly what a devotional gathering should be? So, I am thinking to myself that if I were to organize and host a devotional gathering in my apartment, I might call it a Prayer Station, in honor of my beautiful daughter and the lesson she taught me yesterday!

This little story was one of those wonderful reminders of how grateful I should be for the gift of the Baha’i Faith, and it provided fresh inspiration for my own quest of who I truly am… for:

True loss is for him whose days have been spent in utter ignorance of his self.
(Baha’u'llah, Tablets of Baha’u'llah, p. 156)

Through the Teachings of this Day Star of Truth every man will advance and develop until he attaineth the station at which he can manifest all the potential forces with which his inmost true self hath been endowed. It is for this very purpose that in every age and dispensation the Prophets of God and His chosen Ones have appeared amongst men, and have evinced such power as is born of God and such might as only the Eternal can reveal.
(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 67)

The Purpose of the one true God, exalted be His glory, in revealing Himself unto men is to lay bare those gems that lie hidden within the mine of their true and inmost selves. That the divers communions of the earth, and the manifold systems of religious belief, should never be allowed to foster the feelings of animosity among men, is, in this Day, of the essence of the Faith of God and His Religion.
(Baha’u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha’u'llah, p. 287)

Today we had the 2nd International Day at work. It was an incredibly diverse and delicious event which illustrated very eloquently how feasible Baha’u'llah’s vision of unity in diversity is. As I was enjoying the food and the company of my coworkers, I was thinking that they don’t even know that the party was organized not only by our HR department but by Baha’u'llah Himself! The company has around 190 employees (a derivative of 19). We had food from 27 countries (a derivative of 9):

• Barbados
• Bolivia
• Bulgaria
• Cameroon
• Canada
• China
• Ethiopia
• India
• Japan
• Malaysia
• Mexico
• Montserrat
• Namibia
• Nigeria
• Pakistan
• Panama
• Peru
• Philippines
• Poland
• St. Lucia
• Sudan
• Tanzania
• Trinidad
• Turkey
• United States

This was the most joyous celebration of diversity I have experienced at the work place. It truly was a celebration of the human diversity and its beauty as expressed in colors, decorations, and delicious food. I am in awe at the beauty of the human fusion Baha’u'llah’s vision has produced and is continuing to produce:

Therefore, Bahá’u'lláh hath said that the various races of humankind lend a composite harmony and beauty of color to the whole. Let all associate, therefore, in this great human garden even as flowers grow and blend together side by side without discord or disagreement between them.
(Abdu’l-Baha, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, p. 68)

O Thou Provider! The dearest wish of this servant of Thy Threshold is to behold the friends of East and West in close embrace; to see all the members of human society gathered with love in a single great assemblage, even as individual drops of water collected in one mighty sea; to behold them all as birds in one garden of roses, as peals of one ocean, as leaves of one tree, as rays of one sun.
(Abdu’l-Baha, Baha’i Prayers, p. 157)

Oh and by the way — this is my 90th post on this blog. In case you wonder why this is more important than a 100th post, Baha’is love the numbers 9, 19, and all their derivatives

At lunch I was talking with two coworkers — one is a most marvelous Baha’i and the other is Chinese. The Chinese coworker and I were reminiscing on growing up in a communist country. He recollected how happy the old times were and how, with all the development the economic boom has brought, most people are not happy. We all crave happiness, and the material kind is very temporary and won’t cut it.

Let us try to understand the commands of the Most High and to order our lives as He directs. True happiness depends on spiritual good and having the heart ever open to receive the Divine Bounty.

If the heart turns away from the blessings God offers how can it hope for happiness? If it does not put its hope and trust in God’s Mercy, where can it find rest? Oh, trust in God! for His Bounty is everlasting, and in His Blessings, for they are superb. Oh! put your faith in the Almighty, for He faileth not and His goodness endureth for ever! His Sun giveth Light continually, and the Clouds of His Mercy are full of the Waters of Compassion with which He waters the hearts of all who trust in Him. His refreshing Breeze ever carries healing in its wings to the parched souls of men! Is it wise to turn away from such a loving Father, Who showers His blessings upon us, and to choose rather to be slaves of matter?

(Abdu’l-Baha, Paris Talks, p. 108)

This afternoon, I got a wonderful confirmation of something I had had a dream about few days ago — a dear friend has indeed arrived in Arlington, and help is within reach! We all crave confirmations and friendship, and I got that today. Thanks be to God!

After two days of biking to work, my metabolism has kicked in on a higher gear and I cannot stop craving for something nice and fatty. Macadamia nuts, cashews and dried fruits don’t cut it. I guess, it will have to be a Perivuan chicken dinner.

Last but not least, I just past my final exam for the Wilmette Institute course on “Islam for Deepening and Understanding”, and got 92.67 out of 100. Not bad for a person who was raised on prejudice against Islam. Just in case there is confusion on what Islam is, it means “submission to God”. Now, passing the exam is the easy part — the intellectual task. The actual goal is the one that will produce the best confirmation — submission to the Will of God! May God help me in this, and may God help all your loved ones!

Blessed is the one who discovereth the fragrance of inner meanings from the traces of this Pen through whose movement the breezes of God are wafted over the entire creation, and through whose stillness the very essence of tranquillity appeareth in the realm of being. Glorified be the All-Merciful, the Revealer of so inestimable a bounty. Say: Because He bore injustice, justice hath appeared on earth, and because He accepted abasement, the majesty of God hath shone forth amidst mankind.
(Baha’u'llah, The Kitab-i-Aqdas, p. 76)

My God, Whom I worship and adore! I bear witness unto Thy unity and Thy oneness, and acknowledge Thy gifts, both in the past and in the present. Thou art the All-Bountiful, the overflowing showers of Whose mercy have rained down upon high and low alike, and the splendors of Whose grace have been shed over both the obedient and the rebellious.

O God of mercy, before Whose door the quintessence of mercy hath bowed down, and round the sanctuary of Whose Cause loving-kindness, in its inmost spirit, hath circled, we beseech Thee, entreating Thine ancient grace, and seeking Thy present favor, that Thou mayest have mercy upon all who are the manifestations of the world of being, and to deny them not the outpourings of Thy grace in Thy days.

All are but poor and needy, and Thou, verily, art the All-Possessing, the All-Subduing, the All-Powerful.

(Baha’u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u'llah, p. 250)

Today I came to work for the first time on a bike since I broke my nose and splintered a wrist in early June following a bike crush. I was more caucious that usual down the steep hills when approaching Rosslyn but crossing the Potomac and seeing Georgetown in the bright sunlight was as beautiful as before. That is my little contribution to carbon-neutral commuting to work.

The Arlington County Fair was heavily promoting the idea of living without a car and it seems I am ahead of the bell curve in this. Recently I signed up for ZipCar, the carsharing service where you can rent a car by the hour. And I walk a lot. Now, that does not make me particularly web exercised but it is a step in the right direction. I am still as shy as before about group sports. The other morning I watched a group of guys playing volleyball in the park and I wondered how one finds sports buddies. I live in a unique place where within few hundred meters from my apartment there are tennis courts, swimming pool and what not. So, one of my Olympics-inspired ambitions is to try to overcome the fear of sport that has been burdening me ever since I almost broke my back in 5th grade when doing some crazy gymnastics unsupervised.

Blessings to all!

Ever since I went to Bulgaria I have been contemplating on the question of what is authentic in me. The question was inspired by the observation of how much I fluctuated depending on who I was around. That was particularly obvious when I was around old friends who were not fully familiar with the meaning of the Baha’i Faith in my life. But that was also obvious from contemplating the differences that sometimes occur in my thinking and behavior depending on whether I am among people or on my own. So, I feel, this question, of finding the authentic me, is of paramount importance for my healing and spiritual growth.

Last night I started reading a fabulous book, “Big Mind / Big Heart“, which talks about the disowned voices we have hidden deep in our subconscious because they talk of things we are not proud of — I sure have a lot of those voices. The ability to embrace them is a key to giving them voice in a healthy way. But the book talks also about other voices of which we might not be aware — the voices that speak of something bigger than we limit ourselves to be.

This morning I woke up from a series of dreams which spoke to me of being embraced in the love and grace of God; which gave examples of strength and courage — an austrian swimmer champion in the Olympics who had only one arm (?!), and which sent me a message that a friend who wants and wills to help me has arrived in Arlington. I can’t shake the feeling of joy that sense of being immersed in God’s mercy!

So, now I am getting ready to go back to the Arlington County Fair where I went last night to be at the Baha’i booth with another wonderful friend. At some point I wandered around checking other exhibitors and then saw the competition tables — of vegetables grown, of jams canned, and of photographs taken by Arlingtonians — and I realized that I too, could participate in these competitions. The zucchini I grew were at least as big as the winner; the sour cherry jam is probably not much worse than those shown on the winners’ table; as for my photography, who knows, I am new in it but surely willing to learn.

This all takes me back to the question of the authentic self. It seems to me I have limited my perception of who I am for such a long time that it has been disservice to both myself and my creator. Time to say hello to the world. World, say hello to Mitko

O God, Who art the Author of all Manifestations, the Source of all Sources, the Fountain-Head of all Revelations, and the Well-Spring of all Lights! I testify that by Thy Name the heaven of understanding hath been adorned, and the ocean of utterance hath surged, and the dispensations of Thy providence have been promulgated unto the followers of all religions.

I beseech Thee so to enrich me as to dispense with all save Thee, and be made independent of any one except Thyself. Rain down, then, upon me out of the clouds of Thy bounty that which shall profit me in every world of Thy worlds. Assist me, then, through Thy strengthening grace, so to serve Thy Cause amidst Thy servants that I may show forth what will cause me to be remembered as long as Thine own kingdom endureth and Thy dominion will last.

This is Thy servant, O my Lord, who with his whole being hath turned unto the horizon of Thy bounty, and the ocean of Thy grace, and the heaven of Thy gifts. Do with me then as becometh Thy majesty, and Thy glory, and Thy bounteousness, and Thy grace.

Thou, in truth, art the God of strength and power, Who art meet to answer them that pray Thee. There is no God save Thee, the All-Knowing, the All-Wise.

(Baha’u'llah, Prayers and Meditations by Baha’u'llah, p. 59)

I am back from Bulgaria, in more than one ways. Re-adjusting is never easy. The best way is by putting myself in service to others.

Over the past two days I assisted Justin in launching a beautiful new site on spiritual education for children in Northern Virginia.

And having practiced in other neighborhoods and in our own home, today for the first time we did what we’ve been called for so long — we went to a nearby neighborhood with two blankets, set of coloring sheets, crayons, bubbles, songs, our own children and trust in God. It all went in a classical way — first hesitation — we went to the playground, saw no other children, and were ready to go to another park. The girls had a different idea — they wanted to play on the jungle gym. As they took their time, one girl from the neighborhood showed up, and that was enough for us. We went to the meadow in the middle of the apartment complex, spread the blankets and started with the bubble song and coloring. Before long, there were 7 non-Baha’i children coloring, learning about unity, and singing “We are drops of one ocean”. Everything felt absolutely natural. A couple of mothers stopped by to see what we were doing. It was great that we were in front of everybody — they could see what their kids were doing and they were clearly pleased and grateful that we were working with their children. The kids themselves had fun and said they can’t wait until next Saturday to continue with the class.

It feels great to be obedient. I feel today we were obedient to God and to the Faith’s institutions. Thank you Baha’u'llah!