Universal House of Justice Ridvan Message 2010: A Context
Bahaichap
community, the new culture of learning and growth that is at the heart
of this paradigm, nearly three years ago. I did this posting at
several internet sites and have revised that post in these last three
years as developments in the paradigm have come about, as new messages
from Bahá'í institutions have been published and as many individuals
have commented verbally and in print on this new Baha'i culture. It
seemed like a good idea to give readers some specific steps on how to
access this now revised article, what is now a book of more than
160,000 words and more than 350 pages and is found at Baha’i Library
Online(BLO)--especially with the publication at Ridvan of 2010 of a
13,000 word message from the Universal House of Justice--one of the
longest messages of the Formative Age since that charismatic Force was
institutionalized in the Guardianship and, in 1963, effloesced in the
apex of Baha'i administration
In the time this book has been on the internet there have been many
thousand views of this analysis, this statement on the new paradigm at
the few sites where it has been posted. In addition to googling
“Baha’i Culture of Learning and Growth” and accessing this article in
the process at several internet sites, readers can find this piece of
writing at BLO by clicking on the following:
bahai-library.org/file.php?fileprice_culture_learning_paradigm
Readers can also access the latest edition of this article at BLO by
taking the following steps: (i) type Baha’i Library Online or Baha’i
Academics Resource Library into your search engine; (ii) click on the
small box “By author” at the top of the access page at BLO; (iii) type
“Price” into the small box that then appears and click on the word
“Go;” and then (iv) scroll down to article/document item #47 and (v)
click on that item and read to your heart’s content. When your eyes
and your mind start to glaze over, stop reading. The article can be
downloaded free and you will then have access to this book, this
context for all this new paradigmatic terminology that has come into
the Baha’i community in the last 15 years with at least a preliminary
inetegration of relevant passages from the latest House message.
My statement, my book, is a personal one, does not assume an
adversarial attitude, attempts to give birth of as fine an etiquette
of expression as I can muster and, I like to think, possesses both
candour and critical thought on the one hand and praise and delight at
the many interrelated processes involved in the execution of this
paradigm on the other. I invite readers to what I also like to think
is “a context on which relevant fundamental questions” regarding this
new paradigm may be discussed within the Baha’i community. But, in the
end, my writing, my words and all of the quotations I place in
contexts to illustrate what I want to illustrate--amount to my initial
take on this new Baha'i paradigm. My book possesses no authority.
Indeed, such a remark hardly needs saying.
This book contains, as I emphasize, an update, an inclusion of
commentary on the most recent messages from the institutions of the
Cause—with a special focus on the Ridvan message of 2010. One of the
advantages of the BLO site is the freedom it gives to a writer to
update the article right on the site in an ongoing process as new
insights from major thinkers in the Baha’i community and information
from the elected and appointed institutions of the Cause comes to
hand. If time and the inclination permit, check it out. No worries, no
obligation, just if it interests you. You may find the piece of
writing too long as I’m sure many readers do. It is certainly a view
from the inside, but it is just one person’s view building as it does
on the ideas and writings of others: Bahá'í institutions and
individuals. We each have a different experience on the inside of this
paradigm, on the inside of this Faith or, indeed, living on the inside
of our global society. You may find this book too personal due to the
fact that I attempt to answer the question: “where do I fit into this
new paradigm?” After a few paragraphs of reading, you will get the
flavour of the exercise. Just keep reading if your mind and spirit are
enjoying the process.