A Minty adventure begins

By lessan | Published: September 25, 2010

I grew up in Cameroon, in a number of rural towns. One feature of living in the tropics is that things grow very easily, all year round, and everywhere you look there is greenery as far as the eye can see. In our back yard we had a vegetable garden, and as kids my sister and I loved to play and work in the soil of the garden. We would help my parents till the soil, plant the seeds equally spaced apart in rows, and water them on occasion. We would watch the plants grow day by day, especially for the few weeks after planting, and observe carefully the budding plant breaking the soil, growing with just two leaves to start with, growing to a few centimeters and needing to be propped up with a stick, then being able to stand on its own. And after a few months we would love to harvest the tomatoes, peas, potatoes and best of all the corn. I loved harvesting corn!

So a few weeks ago I was walking in the gardens here, noticing the freshly tilled soil and reminiscing of my childhood days and growing plants. We had tried to grow plants in Australia as well but never seemed to get a proper garden in place before we had to move house. And here, the apartments we live in doesn’t quite lend itself to an outdoor garden. But I still dreamt of being able to cultivate a plant once again, somehow…

A few days ago, my wife and I went out to a local fruit and vegetable market. My wife had decided that she wanted to avoid sugary foods for a while and to try to eat more vegetables. So we headed down to the Talpiyot market in the Hadar, which I hadn’t been to before. It is an open air market spanning a few streets, with stalls on the street walks and corners. It was getting dark by this time however, and after around half an hour they started packing up. But we got a few veggies and even found some nice black olives.

On the way back, as we were walking through the Hadar, we passed by a shop that sold potted flowers. As we stood admiring the flowers, I commented that it would be great to have a plant at home, and Melissa agreed, but suggested that it would be better to have something we could eat. We were just about to leave as there didn’t seem to be any herbs, when suddenly we spotted what looked like a mint plant hiding between the flowers. We contemplated the idea, that maybe we could find a place for it in our flat, and realized we should be able to in our laundry area which is well lit. So we asked the price and finding it quite reasonable, decided to buy the plant. We also bought a larger pot and extra soil for it, so the plant could spread and provide enough mint for us to have on a regular basis.

As we rode the bus home, we were very excited at this new acquisition and couldn’t wait to get home to find a place for it. We just had to give this new comer to our home a name, and decided to call it Minty. We then took some photos of the whole process, and wish to share these with you.

Here’s Minty in its old home, waiting to be transferred to a bigger premises:

It turned out our laundry room was suitable, as the bigger pot could fit directly over the sink:

We first placed some paper towels and poured soil in:

Then we carefully lifted Minty out of its old home and into the new one:

A closer photo of some of Minty’s luscious green leaves:

An added bonus of having it over the sink, is that watering the plant is so easy:

However, a few days later I searched for information about the appropriate conditions for a mint plant and came to the conclusion that it would be better to water it using filtered water, as the water here is hard. I also read about cutting the stems and cultivating them separately to form new plants. We decided to do this, as it would help speed up our plant covering the new pot. Here are the sprigs we cut off and placed in glasses:

As I write this, a few more days have passed and we are already seeing roots sprouting out. We’ll wait a few more days before planting them into the pot.

And here’s a closer photo of a shoot that’s just poking out of the soil:

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In remembrance of The Servant of Bahá

By lessan | Published: November 28, 2009

The house of Abdu'l-Baha on HaParsim street in HaifaSome reading material when commemorating the passing of ‘Abdu’l-Bahá:

“Friends, the time is coming when I shall be no longer with you. I have done all that could be done. I have served the Cause of Bahá’u’lláh to the utmost of My ability. I have labored night and day all the years of My life. O how I long to see the believers shouldering the responsibilities of the Cause!… My days are numbered, and save this there remains none other joy for me.”

Chapter 21 of God Passes By describes the passing in wonderful detail and is a captivating read on this occasion. Some of the eulogies read at His funeral can be found in this article on bahai.org, pulled from chapter 24 of H.M. Balyuzi’s book on ‘Abdu’l-Bahá. A sample follows:

“O concourse of Arabians and Persians! Whom are ye bewailing? Is it he who but yesterday was great in his life and is today in his death greater still? Shed no tears for the one that hath departed to the world of Eternity, but weep over the passing of Virtue and Wisdom, of Knowledge and Generosity. Lament for yourselves, for yours is the loss, whilst he, your lost one, is but a revered Wayfarer, stepping from your mortal world into the everlasting Home. Weep one hour for the sake of him who, for well nigh eighty years, hath wept for you! Look to your right, look to your left, look East and look West and behold, what glory and greatness have vanished! What a pillar of peace hath crumbled! What eloquent lips are hushed! Alas! In this tribulation there is no heart but aches with anguish, no eye but is filled with tears. Woe unto the poor, for lo! goodness hath departed from them, woe unto the orphans, for their loving father is no more with them! Could the life of Sir `Abdu’l-Bahá `Abbas have been redeemed by the sacrifices of many a precious soul, they of a certainty would gladly have offered up their lives for his life. But Fate hath otherwise ordained. Every destiny is predetermined and none can change the Divine Decree. What am I to set forth the achievements of this leader of mankind? They are too glorious to be praised, too many to recount. Suffice it to say, that he has left in every heart the most profound impression, on every tongue most wondrous praise. And he that leaveth a memory so lovely, so imperishable, he, indeed, is not dead. Be solaced then, O ye people of Baha! Endure and be patient; for no man, be he of the East or of the West, can ever comfort you, nay he himself is even in greater need of consolation.”

`Abdu'l-Bahá's funeral, Haifa, Israel

`Abdu'l-Bahá's funeral, Haifa, Israel

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Help him to marry

By lessan | Published: June 26, 2009
Gate of the Heart

Gate of the Heart

I’ve been reading the book Gate of the Heart – Understanding the Writings of the Bab, by Nader Saiedi. I’ll leave a review of the book for later – suffice it to say that there are some translations provided there which are not available anywhere else in English. I’ve started typing some of these quotations in Evernote, the ones I find interesting as I randomly browse the book. You can see the complete Evernote notebook here (updated automatically whenever I add something), but I’ll post one quote that I found interesting.

The subject is Ethics and Laws in the Bayan, specifically the prohibition on causing grief. The following two quotes are from the Bayan, found in Gate of the Heart p. 322:

…he who knowingly causeth grief to any soul must pay a fine of ninteeen mithqals of gold, should it be in his power to do so.

In fact, we should actively seek to bring joy and gladness to people:

Therefore, in the Bayan there is no act of obedience that ensureth greater nearness to God than bringing joy to the hearts of the faithful, even as naught yieldeth more remoteness than causing them grief. This law is doubly binding in dealing with the possessors of circles (women), whether in causing them joy or grief. However, man must always be watchful that even if he fail to bring joy to a human being, at least he should refrain from causing him grief.

So much so, that we should be the essence of love and care for others. This from the Kitabu’l-Asma, found in Gate p. 323:

Be lovingly watchful of one another and thus improve your affairs. Should ye find amongst you one who is afflicted with grief, remove his sorrow by any means in your power, and should ye find one stricken with poverty, enrich him to the extent of your ability. If ye find in your midst one who is abased, exalt him to the extent ye can, and if ye find one who is veiled in ignorance, educate him to the degree of your capacity. Should ye find amongst yourselves one who is single, help him to marry, in accordance with the divine law, to the limits of your ability, and should ye find one who is in distress, bring him tranquility by any means in your power…. Gaze upon others with the same eyes with which ye gaze upon your own selves. … If ye find in your midst one who is hungry, send him, in truth and to the extent of your power, food in such a way that his heart will not be saddened, and if ye find one who has no clothes, provide him with clothes in the most dignified manner, to the extent possible for you. Look then not at your selves and your possessions, but rather look at God, Who hath created you and conferred upon you from His kingdom that which is your lot.

I find this matches many quotes from Abdu’l-Baha who also strongly advises making sure not to cause any grief to any soul, and instead to be the cause of joy.

However, if you noticed in the above quote, there is a reference to helping single people get married. I leave it  up to you to interpret that as you will, but I thought it was a good example of the kinds of gems one finds in the Writings of the Bab.

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Happy Naw-Ruz!

By lessan | Published: March 20, 2009

Today is the last day of the fast, the day of loftiness in the month of loftiness. Through the fast, we strive to become detached from this world and from our lower nature, and to approach the heavenly horizon and the spiritual realm. Our loftiness then, and the acceptance of our fast, is wholly dependent on the state of our spirit and on the acceptance of God. Abstinence from physical food for a period has affected our bodies by demonstrating to them that our higher natures are, in fact, in charge of our being. This process is a very profound one, the full significance of which we may never learn, but we get a glimpse by reading about the innumerable blessings this period is endowed with.

Here comes the sun...Every hour of these days, Baha’u’llah says, has been endowed with a special virtue, and a portion of this virtue has been assigned to every soul. He refers to fasting as the sun, and obligatory prayer the moon in the heaven of religion, and one may think of the effect that the sun has on life on this planet. How numerous the rays of the sun during the day, how endowed with power to generate heat, to enable plants to grow and life to thrive and prosper. These rays can be regarded as the virtues with which these days are endowed, the spiritual illumination they provide, the life of the soul they cultivate, the transformative power they exert on our inner beings and true reality. They banish the darkness of self that clouds our hearts, they clean the dross on our mirrors and uncover the beauty of God that exists within our souls. Their brightness is so dazzling that we can’t really appreciate them, not until their time has passed and darkness has set in again, our eyes have become adjusted and we finally realize what we are missing. But never worry, obligatory prayer is here to illumine the way and keep us on the right path till the next dawn, only 346 days away.

As the fast finishes and the year finishes, we prepare ourselves for the commencement of a new year, a new cycle on this earth. Spring is here, and with it a renewal of the physical world. All the storms and hail, the icy winds and snow, the thunder and lightning of the past season are gone, but they leave us with a wonderful gift of nature renewed. The trees which lost their leaves are now waking up, growing little green shoots on every branch. Flowers are budding and blooming. There’s a freshness in the air.

Tomorrow will be Naw-Rúz, a new day indeed. Each day has a significance, a unique spirit that it has been endowed with, so unique that it will never again recur. At the same time, each day is united with every other day, each month with every other month and each year with every other year. Naw-Rúz tomorrow is the return of last year’s Naw-Rúz. But the year has changed. And the world has changed, and each of us have changed. New people have been born into this world. People have passed on to the next. Humanity has become more mature, even though the masses may not recognize it.

Naw-Rúz is the first day of the year. It is special for many reasons, one of them being that it is associated with the greatest name of God, Bahá (glory). It is the day of glory, in the month of glory. It is the greatest day, of the greatest month – no day can be imagined greater than this day, or more glorious. It is the first of days, and the king of days, because it is linked with, has been created for and is dedicated to Bahá.

In the Persian Bayán the Báb attributes special significance to the first month, associates it with Himself and likens it to a sun with all the other months as “mirrors that reflect the radiant lights of that supreme month”. He says God has singled out that month for Him Whom God shall make manifest (Baha’u’llah), and that the first day of that month is the day of Him Whom God shall make manifest. This day is the source and excellence of all days. (see Gate of the Heart p. 328)

And the relation to God doesn’t end there, each year is unique, and each cycle of years is unique. Tomorrow will be the first day of the first month of the year Jád (generosity), in the 9th Váhid of the 1st Kull-i-Shay. It will also be Saturday, the day of Jalál (glory). In every way possible then, we try to link our everyday lives to God so we may never, even for a moment, forget why we are here, what we are doing and where we are going.

May we all strive then, by our actions, during this coming year to fill the world with the Names and Attributes of God. “This is a matchless Day. Matchless must, likewise, be… the deed that aspireth to be acceptable in His sight.” “This is a Revelation, under which, if a man shed for its sake one drop of blood, myriads of oceans will be his recompense.” “An act, however infinitesimal, is, when viewed in the mirror of the knowledge of God, mightier than a mountain. Every drop proffered in His path is as the sea in that mirror.” “One single breath exhaled in the love of God and for His service is written down by the Pen of Glory as a princely deed.”

feliz-naw-ruz

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Lamentations of Yahya’s pen

By lessan | Published: March 10, 2009

I recently came across a story about the pen of Mírzá Yahyá, who was complaining to Bahá’u’lláh of its treatment at the hands of its owner. The story is from the Kitáb-i-Badí (The Wondrous New Book), which is not yet translated into English, but I found a description of this story in Nader Saiedi’s book Logos and Civilization. It is a very moving tale, as you can see, and I would love to one day be able to read the Kitáb-i-Badí myself and to appreciate it more fully.

“Another moving stylistic element in the Kitáb-i-Badí is Bahá’u’lláh’s narrative of the lamentations and supplications of Mírzá Yahyá’s pen, which has been used to write against the Promised One of the Bayán. Bahá’u’lláh explains that the pen of Mihdí is but a shadow of the pen of Yahyá and that the latter’s pen has secretly escaped from him and attained the presence of Bahá’u’lláh, where it has wept and wailed, confessing its shame, sorrow, bewilderment, and anger at Yahyá and its abuse and suffering in the hand of its owner, the arch covenant-breaker. The pen entreats Bahá’u’lláh to command it to act as a fatal weapon against Yahyá, and if He does not grant that wish, at least to liberate it from the fingers of Bahá’u’lláh’s enemy. It expresses its shame before the community of pens and avows that even if Bahá’u’lláh forgave its sins, it would continue to be mortified because of its role. It admits its confusion and distress at its fate, a fate that could not be deserved because it knows that it is nonexistent before the divine will, and yet could not be said to be undeserved because it is unable to understand the logic of mysterious divine wisdom. It complains of the fact that other pens have been used to reveal the words of God in the hand of Bahá’u’lláh, while it has been imprisoned in the grip of the enemy of the Cause of God. The pen declares that its gravest concern is that because of its sins the Pen of Glory may cease to reveal divine words, and it implores Bahá’u’lláh to settle its fate and emancipate it from its sorrow, or else make it cease to exist.

The pen continues to recount its life story to Bahá’u’lláh. From the very first days of its existence as a reed, it longed to attain the presence of Bahá’u’lláh and spent its days and nights in a state of yearning. It endured all hardships for the sake of that wish. Then it was cut off and moved from hand to hand and from place to place until it was bought in the market by one of His servants. But when it was placed in that man’s hand it sensed the odor of his heedlessness and became saddened but remained silent. The servant carried the pen from land to land until he arrived at the land of Bahá’u’lláh’s residence. Joy and delight overtook the pen and it felt itself the king of all kings. It remained in that state of ecstasy till its bearer arrived at a crossroads – one path led to the right and another path to the left. The man chose the left-hand path and the pen found itself trembling and wailing until at last the servant reached a house exuding the stench of hell and placed the pen in the hand of the tyrant who rose against Bahá’u’lláh.

The pen continues to express its unending sense of shame and implores Bahá’u’lláh to take its life and then to recreate it so that it might expunge the memory of its unhappy past.”

Logos and Civilization, pp. 177-178
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