New Baha'i Culture/Paradigm of Learning & Growth

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RonPrice
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Location: George Town Tasmania Australia
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New Baha'i Culture/Paradigm of Learning & Growth

Postby RonPrice » Mon Aug 03, 2009 6:11 am

Part 1:

I posted an introduction to the paradigmatic shift in the Baha’i community, the new culture of learning and growth that is at the heart of this paradigm, 8 years ago. I did this posting at several internet sites and have revised that post many times in these last 8 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 in print and especially in cyberspace 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 250,000 words and 700+ pages and is found at Baha’i Library Online(BLO)--especially with the publication at Ridvan 2014 of the message from the Universal House of Justice, and additional messages up to and including the present.(1/9/'14) The latest Ridvan message is but one of the several dozen messages since the inception of this new Baha'i paradigm in 1996.

Part 2:

The Baha'i Faith is now near the end of the first century of its Formative Age which began at the end of the Heroic Age(1844 to 1921). The charismatic Force in the Person of Baha’u’llah was institutionalized in the Person of Abdul-Baha, then in the Guardianship and, in 1963, it effloresced in that apex of Baha'i administration in the Universal House of Justice.

In the time this book has been on the internet there have been some 30 to 40 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?file=price_culture_learning_paradigm

Part 3:

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 relevant article/document item, 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 18 years with an integration 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 candor 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 take on this new Baha'i paradigm after a decade and a half of its implementation. My book possesses no authority. Indeed, such a remark hardly needs saying.

Part 4:

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 many Ridvan messages up to and including 2014. One of the advantages of the BLO site is the freedom it gives to a writer to update his or her article or book 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 questions: “where do I fit into this new paradigm?” “what have I done?” and “where am I going in my service to the wider community and in the exercise of my spiritual obligation to teach the Cause. 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.
I have been married for 44 years, a teacher for 35, a writer and editor for 13, and a Baha'i for 53(in 2012). I have lived in Australia since 1971 & am now retired and on a pension.

BritishBahai
Posts: 251
Joined: Sat May 17, 2008 1:21 pm
Location: UK

Re: New Baha'i Culture/Paradigm of Learning & Growth

Postby BritishBahai » Mon Aug 10, 2009 10:18 am

Thanks for posting, Ron :)

For anyone who wants to read his article, click here.
"I have desired only what Thou didst desire, and love only what Thou dost love"

RonPrice
Posts: 22
Joined: Mon Sep 05, 2005 4:35 am
Location: George Town Tasmania Australia
Contact:

Re: New Baha'i Culture/Paradigm of Learning & Growth

Postby RonPrice » Tue Oct 20, 2009 9:54 pm

A belated thanks to you, British Baha'i.-Ron in Tasmania
I have been married for 44 years, a teacher for 35, a writer and editor for 13, and a Baha'i for 53(in 2012). I have lived in Australia since 1971 & am now retired and on a pension.


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