The spirit of the movement

A few times in my wanderings, I've felt what I think of as the spirit of the movement at its best. One of those times was when I was looking for ways to feel closer to Kamal. I stumbled across a report of a mysticism conference at Bosch Baha'i School.

"From February 23 through 24th, a remarkable conference took place at Bosch Baha'i School, Santa Cruz, California. Envisioned as the first in an annual series of conferences focusing on the mystical teachings of the Bab, Baha'u'llah and 'Abdu'l Baha, the Baha'i Mysticism Conference enabled the 97 participants to develop a greater sense of devotion and mysticism in their personal lives, and to explore ways to enrich the devotional aspects of Baha'i community life in general. Although mysticism has always been part of the religious experience, until Islam it existed at only the individual level. With the rise of the Sufis (Islamic mystics) mysticism became a major flow of thought pursuing the knowledge of transcendent truth through meditation and prayer. By chanting verses from the Writings, the presence of God is invoked. Musical repetition of sacred verses sets up a rhythm which naturally unites people, uplifting them so that they are more receptive. Borrowing from this Sufi tradition, one of the highlights of the Mysticism Conference was its use of zikr (chanting sacred verses) in the devotional portions of the program. The program itself was an eclectic combination of scholarly presentations and uplifting experiential activities such as group zikr, song, art, nature walks and meditation."

- from the Talisman archives
( http://www-personal.umich.edu/~jrcole/t96mar10.htm )

Some of the people I had met or read about were there, and I felt a little thrill at coming across their trail. I had been through a lot with them, and I ached a little to be there with them. Rahmat spoke on "The Mystical Path in the Writings of Shaykh Ahmad" and Kamal spoke on "Gnosis: The Quest for Perfection." Some other topics were "Baha-Maiden Dialogues," "A Mystical Experience Using Music," "Spiritualizing the Community with Music" and a commemoration for a Sufi companion of Baha'u'llah. At the final session the participants consulted about ways to develop a devotional side of the Faith equal to its administrative side.

Karen Bacquet wrote about the spirit of the Talisman list:

Old-time members of Talisman describe those early days as a time of excitement and wonder . . . Outspoken feminists found themselves corresponding with old-fashioned Middle Eastern men; legalistic administrators talked to mystics; scriptural literalists went head-to-head with scholars using academic methods.

http://www.angelfire.com/ca3/bigquestions/talisman.html

Jonah Winters wrote:

I personally found it a most liberating experience. Like a large room full of multiple conversations, some corners of the room had conversations which I found distasteful and sometimes bitter, but most conversations I found engaging, enlightening, exhilarating, enthusiastic, and even the occasional epiphany.

http://bahai-library.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9010#9010

I had a wonderful experience related to the spirit of the movement, which is described in an appendix, "A new wind."

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