Latest Forum Topics

Mi propio Cielo / My own sky - rap- song

Jose Octavio Hidalgo — Tue, 13 Dec 2011 23:06:52 +0000

sooo this is a beautiful song about peace and a dream of how is that heaven that we all want, and the heave that we as Baha'is have to build ^^.

Hello Everyone!

Lunatic Supernatural Dairy — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 12:04:02 +0000

My name is Donovan and I have been a registered Bahai since age 15 and was raised as a Bahai by my mother and father who declared long before I was born. I am 40 now and the two things I enjoy doing the most in my life is deepening in the writings of the Faith and creating music.I have worked in several bands and musical projects some were successful others were not lol..For the last 3 years I have been working in the music project Lunatic Supernatural Dairy as well as another project called Dark Matter Transmission. DMTM is a project where a friend of mine who lives in Alaska and myself who lives in Ohio create and record music by the use of a home recording studio and the Internet.Aside from working in music I have also been a published poet,cartoonist,and painter.

Born Bahai

Lunatic Supernatural Dairy — Wed, 17 Aug 2011 11:47:39 +0000

Greetings to all:

I was born into this world by my Mother & Father who were registered Bahai's well before I was born. I was then raised as a Bahai and declared and became a registered Bahai at age 15. I am now 40 and throughout my life I have enjoyed deepening in the writings of the Faith. The books I have deepened in the most and continue to do so to this day have been The Seven Valleys & The Four Valleys,The Hidden Words,Gems Of Divine Mysteries,and The Kitab-I-Iqan.I have also enjoyed the reading and contemplation of the book Some Answered Questions as well as The Paris Talks.

Alternative Music Created By A Bahai

Lunatic Supernatural Dairy — Mon, 15 Aug 2011 15:48:46 +0000

I am a Bahai and a Musician and I would like to share with you some of the music I have recently created. So here is a link to a site where I have posted my a few of my new origional works..enjoy!
Allahuabha,
http://www.lunaticsupernaturaldairy.com

From Christianity

Kyle Thompson — Tue, 31 May 2011 05:13:57 +0000

I grew up in a very Christian family in a very Christian part of the US (3.5 miles from Oral Roberts University, as the crow flies). My Dad at first studied to be a pastor in college. I have been on seven Christian missions trips, including three over seas. I for a while wanted to be a career Christian missionary, before concluding that I lacked the people skills. I even memorized 111 consecutive Bible verses. I once gave a sermon relating to Star Trek.

My best friend in High School was half Mexican and a type of Christian that followed Levitican law to the letter and didn't celebrate Christmas or Easter. Seeing this commitment enabled my to respect people with different religious views. This friendship also led me to loath racism and nationalism.

In middle school I was present when a seventh grade girl found out for the first time that other religions existed. To not even know what a Muslim was in a post 9/11 world... I didn't want to be like that. This memory may have seeded my desire to learn about other religions.

In eleventh grade I was feeling particularly strong in my faith. I kept hearing about trials people's faith went through in college. I wanted to be ready. In addition to studying apologetics and the history of the Bible, I read the Quran, some Mormon stuff, and books both for and against evolution. I was confident that if what I believed was true, then factual information could not harm me. (Unfortunately, many Christians take the oppposite view, that if my faith is true then I have no need to learn more factual information.)

In twelfth grade, a friend convinced me to attend Philosophy Club as the one conservative person to keep the conversations interesting and not just a boring agnostic agreementfest. Through having to explain Christian views to a bunch of skeptical, argumentative, cynical, intelligent adolescents, I was forced to make certain that anything I believed would in fact make at least plausible sense if I tried to explain it to someone with different views. Rather than breaking my faith, this forced me to focus on the aspects of my faith that really mattered (the existence of a loving God with the power to make us better humans) and be less diehard about nonessential points of doctrine (miracles, free will...).

All that to say, I was devout but openminded.

I went to college in a small town, which didn't have a church of my denomination. Though in high school I had joked about shopping around to every church within walking distance, once I was actually in college and surrounded by thousands of strangers, I just wanted to not go to church alone. As I was going to college in a fairly Christian region (rural Missouri) but intelligent, sciency college people aren't always the most religious, I was keeping an eye out for a Christian to go to church with.

I quickly bonded with a guy named Michael over a mutual interest in outerspace. He took me to his room to show me his Mars poster. I saw a Bible on his shelf, but also a Quran and some Muslim sounding stuff. I asked him if he was "religious."

"Yes," he said, "I'm Baha'i Faith."

"Oh," I said, "like Rainn Wilson from the Office. He talked about it on Conan O'Brien."

As soon as I was away I wikied the Baha'i Faith, as I do everything I hear about. Over the next couple of months, I would occasionally ask Michael theological questions during meal time, but my interest was entirely academic. My friendship with Michael grew as I came to know him as an intelligent, sweet, humble person.

Michael, another friend and I went to Michael's home in St. Louis one weekend to watch Macbeth. That weekend just so happened to be Ayyam-i-Ha. In my family, Christmas was exclusive family time. However, Michael's family welcomed us like part of the family, even buying us little gifts so we could participate in the unwrapping. I was blown away by the sweetness and hospitality of the family.

I was awake before my friends Saturday morning. I saw a Hidden Words, and deciding it was short enough to read in a day, decided on a whim to add it to the collection of world religious texts I had read. I was blown away by the similarity to the Sermon on the Mount, which I had memorized a year before and recently been refreshing myself on. At the same time, it wasn't too similar, as if it had been merely copied. It seemed like what Jesus would say if he came again in a different time and place, which was essentially what it claimed.

Back at the college campus, with the help of the internet, I quickly found out about the Biblical prophecies about the Baha'i Faith. I decided to participate in the fast, as I considered fasting to be Christian method of spiritual decision making. I read parts of the Bhagavad Gita, and all of the Iqan, the Aqdas, Thief in the Night, Some Answered Questions, and a biography each of the Bab and Baha'u'llah. Through out it all I prayed not, "Is this wrong, yes or no," but rather for clarity, lucidity and truth.

Also during the fast I started saying the short prayer and saying the Name 95 times, as a way of trying on the religion like a jacket. I could not convince myself that "...Thou hast created me to know Thee and to worship Thee...my powerlessness, and Thy might...there is none of god but Thee, the Help in Peril, the Self-Subsisting" and "God the Most Glorious" were things that God would not want me to say, or that people would say those things, and then God would smite them in the afterlife forever for every little mistake they had ever made because they hadn't thanked Jesus for taking a beating in their stead.

The first question I had to deal with was how could Islam and Hindu be reconcilable. After reading essential passages of the BG, I realized the polytheism and a hierarchical cast system were elements of Indian culture that did not come from Krishna.

Another big question was if Muslims say Muhammad said he was the last Prophet, and Baha'is believe in Muhammad, what went wrong here? I found out that Muhammad actually said he was the seal of the prophets, and that Muslims interpret this as meaning last, but that is not the only viable interpretation.

Perhaps the biggest bite to swallow was the non-physical resurrection of Christ. But once it is understood that a literal interpretation of the ascension is silly, then Jesus's physical body must have expired at some point, and on the cross seems more reasonable than a few weeks later with no apparent provocation. Since SAQ explains that it is the spiritual resurrection Christ's spirit and message that matters, and since it is the spiritual resurrection, rather than a physical resurrection, that enables Christians to feel and be changed by the Spirit of Christ to this day, I was able to accept this.

I joined the Baha'i Faith a month after I finished reading the HW. I've been told I'm worshiping the Anti-Christ. I lost my job as a Christian camp counselor. My mom thinks I'm going to hell.

But I can't deny the what my heart and my brain agree to be true. At the same time, I have to keep an openmind, because how dare I ask someone to keep an openmind if I don't do so myself?

Hello from Idaho

Michael Fleck — Mon, 17 May 2010 16:41:17 +0000

Just found this site this morning. I have been a Bahai for 8 years. I have been married for ... just a moment... I have to count.... ah, 37 years. My wife is not a Bahai. I have two daughters, ages 32 and 35. I have one grand daughter, just turned 7. It seems to me people don't know what joy is until they become a grand parent.
I live in North Idaho... about one mile from Lake Coeur d' Alene.... surrounded by mountains, forest, and critters.
Thanks for having this website available.

Mike

Naujubillah, wastagfirullah and Bismillah

Shafeek — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 07:07:44 +0000

Bangladeshi culture is not like the west. A boy or a girl cant say- I love a girl/boy. If you do that Mollas will attack you and most of the parents would side them.

Here you can't shakehand with a girl or woman. cannot kiss in an open place (even she is your wife). If you do that molla wil give a hard (their own made) "Fatwa" for it and you will be punished by them.They dont like to follow their holy book they follow their own wishes.

But all this are not applicable for themselves. There is a popular story on this.

One day a girl went to a "Moktob", an informal religious school. Her coversation with the molla went like this:

Girl : Huzur (molla) Can I love a boy?

Huzur: Naujubillah, Naujubillah (God forbid)

Girl: Can I kiss a boy?

Huzur : No, no. Wastagfirullah, wastafirullah. (God forgive you)

Girl: Can I kiss you?

Huzur : Why not baby, Bismillah ( lets start)

Members Introduction

unity — Tue, 15 Apr 2008 18:57:44 +0000

I do strongly suggest members to at least write something in their profile and why they are here. this can be found here when your logged in http://www.bahaihub.com/account/settings/profile/

middle sided

neo440 — Sun, 06 Apr 2008 11:29:29 +0000

im middle sided if it means anything at all haahahhahahah... hey, its your birthday we're gonna party like.. its your birthday we're gonna sip bacardi like.. Pouya AKA Unity

hey, i have this friends, they're like brothers. one is 2 years older than the other. Here's the funny thing..

elder bother - uses left hand to eat, write and etc / right leg for the rest.

younger borther - uses right hand to eat, write etc / left leg for the rest.

mix and match, this is what u get.

i've known them for whole my life, i still look at them when they do this and i still find it fascinating.. which side of the brain their using i wonder? what do you think?

Are you using Left/right brain or both?

unity — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 06:58:37 +0000

If you see this lady turning in clockwise you are using your right brain. If you see it the other way, you are using left brain. Some people do see both ways, but most people see it only one way. If you try to see it the other way and if you do see, your IQ is above 160 which is almost a genius! Then see if you can make her go one way and then the other by shifting the brain's current.

BOTH DIRECTIONS CAN BE SEEN.. This was proved at Yale University, over a 5-year study on the human brain and its functions. Only 14% of the US population can see her move both ways.

Please wait until image is fully loaded, it can take a while if you have slow internet connection, but it worth it, JUST WAIT

HINT: If you want to see it going anticlock wise and you can't, just ask me and i will give you a hint on how you can do this, but its kind of cheating.

let me know who sees what. I personaly can make her go both ways, also i tried her to do a belly dancing, but no success i suppose i was asking too much from her.

Raised a Baha

walterx4 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 18:49:04 +0000

I have always wondered which would be better, to be raised as a Baha'i or to have found the Faith as a seeker. I think there may be pros and cons to each.

I am a second generation Baha'i. My mother was Jewish and my father was Methodist. Neither the Church nor the Temple would marry them because they weren't the same religion. A friend of my father's suggested they have a Baha'i wedding. So they wrote to Shoghi Effendi and received special permission to have a Baha'i ceremony, even though neither one of them were Baha'i. After that, they decided to become Baha'is.

So I was raised in the Faith. When I was fifteen years old, my sister and I (we are twins) were thrown a surprise birthday party. Sitting on the table was our declaration cards, ready for signatures. At the time I wasn't really ready to declare, but did so because of the position we were put in. My sister is very strong in the Faith and was even then. I have struggled with certain things but even so, I define myself as Baha'i. I live my life as best as I can, but there are certain things that still bother me. I take it on faith because I believe in Baha'u'llah.

I often wonder, would I have found the Faith if I had not been raised as a Baha'i? Would I not take it for granted, the way I do now?

We are all a product of our environment and upbringing. I struggled with a Christian friend of mine for many years because she told me I was following the anti-Christ. The Faith was still in the age of obscurity. I still have a different attitude today towards Christians than any other faith, because of my friend. My husband once commented that he was more tolerant of my religion than I was to his. It was true. I continue everyday to try to be more tolerant.

Are there other next generation Baha'i's who have similar stories? I would love to hear other peoples stories.

neo440

neo440 — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 11:12:44 +0000

born and raised as a bahai by my father. evertyhing was going well untill i turned teenage with a disfunctional family and screwed it all up. Got back on track couple of years ago. Im not very active now days as i dont know anybody anymore and theres like cluster now days

belive it or not, you guys are the closest bahai friends that i have.. Its ok we are far away and only communicating via internet.. i still accept and belive you guys as important friends. . Maybe one day i will travel around the world to meet you guys. mAyBe..

WeLL, tHaTs mY sToRy.. WhAts yOuRs? AlLaHuAbHa!

Losing Weight Neo Style :)

neo440 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 14:11:32 +0000

Alright, this is for people who are planning to lose weight and keeping it healthy.. Actually it works in both way i guess, one is not achievable without the other.

First off, note that im not a qualified physician and no where near it. But my father used to be a Doctor i get advices from him time to time even though hes not really into it anymore. But he was never worried about minor human conditions as many people dont understand their body. Hes advices actually made sense and kept me away from clinical products and wasting money on it.

The advise which im going to post is actually based on what i did for the past 2 months and the results were really satisfying and worked well for me. Im 60-70% sure that it might work for you as well as we all have Red Blood and human flesh

NOTE: im 28 years old male, 5'10 and weigh about 70 kilos now (77.9 kilos 2 months ago) i lost almost 8 kilos in 2 months.. cool huh

So for different ages and weight + shape. I'm still Researching and hopefuly get a good method for you.. try this one first with all gods blessing this might actually work. dont forget to pray!

Note: You dont need fancy gym equipments or overpriced suplimentarys. A freesize dumbbell will do and a average priced Protein Drink is enough. try HORLEYS Essential Protein Drink. But again, check your local listings for other brands.

OK, heres what happened. I recently broke off with my girlfriend and absolutely lost my appetite for food. It actually kinda helped me out and later i got stuck to it. Its almost like fasting everyday, so i dont lose anything but weight

WHAT DO I EAT AND DO

1- I usually skip breakfast as im used to it. You try to do it if you can. But remember.. breakfast is important to get you going from morning to the afternoon. If you have to eat in the morning, Try eating Bananas and whole meal bread with fried eggs ( no oil please ) or Peanut butter ( sugar free please ) Eggs contain fat but just a little bit.. it'll burn by the time you go to work. Same case for peanut butter... it contains good fat. so dont worry too much.

2- Lunch time, if you skip breakfast, try to eat non oily stuff like bread, lean meat. Or your local made Flour items.. ( No oil PLEASE ). Stay away from after lunch Snacks. Chocos and sweet drinks etc. Just have Water and if must, you can get a pack of peanuts just to munch. If you had breakfast, then go a little bit lighter.. maybe just the bread and water.

3- Skip tea time, instead do something else.. like being online or watching tv. No need to exercise. just keep yourself relaxed and drink more water if possible.

4- Ok dinner time, dont eat too much and make sure you do it before 8pm. Cutting down quantity is a very good method. Take High Carb. foods like noodles, pasta and rice. Just an average portion with lean meat and stay away from oily stuff is possible. Little is ok. If possible take more White meat like chicken instead the Red ones.

Go to relax mood after dinner. At least for an hour, let the food digest and get all the energy you can. After an Hour, Drink 1-2 glass of water, and get ready for exercises. Do some stretching for like 4-5 minutes. Legs, arms, shoulders etc. Start jogging at a place in your room, and the Sit ups, push ups and dumbbell. See detailed at the end of this topic.

5-Immediately after exercise, get 2 slices of white bread and have them plain or some peanut butter. This to restore some muscle formation thing. And exactly 1 hour after the exercise, take the protein drink.. or high protein items like Tuna fish, Lean chicken meat. See Detailed at the end of this topic. Your done! see below for detailed.

EXERCISE AND MINUTES

i- Jogging at one place - Beginners 5-8 minutes (stop & start if exhausted)

Advance 8-15 minutes (stop & start if exhausted)

Expert 15-25 minutes (stop & start if exhausted)

Master Unlimited (two thumbs up)

ii- Sit Ups - Beginners 10-15 completes (stop if pain occurs / back pain )

Advance 15-25 completes (stop if pain occurs / back pain )

Expert 25-40 Completes (stop if pain occurs / back pain )

Master unlimited ( i do 55 now 55 ten minutes later )

iii- Push Ups - Beginners 8-12 completes ( depends on body weight

Advance 12-18 completes ( depends on body weight

Expert 18-25 completes ( depends on body weight

Master unlimited ( im weak at this, i do 20 comp. x 3 sets

Dumbbell Lift Ups - Beginner 10-15 lift up ( stop if pain occurs @ biceps )

Advance 15-25 lift up ( stop if pain occurs @ biceps )

Expert 25-40 lift up ( stop if pain occurs @ biceps )

Master unlimited ( i do 55 now 55 ten minutes later )

FOOD IN DETAIL

MORNING - skip or / 2 Bananas / 2 slc. Whole meal bread with sugar free peanut butter / Cereal (little sugar is ok / low fat milk)

AFTERNOON - Lean Chicken meat with Bread. Or just bread. little bit of oil based food is ok.

DINNER - Medium Portion Pasta,Noodle,Rice with Lean Chicken meat. Stay away from junk food.. at least for the moment. Again little bit oil based food is ok.

PROTEIN DRINK - 250ml of low fat milk - Shaked / blend. ( read your product instruction ) 1 hour after exercise.

Alrite, the food choices are not so interesting that i can understand what you feel. The first 3 weeks or so.. its going to be very difficult, i know cos i went through hell.. but after that i promise you.. you'll feel much much better and lose all the cravings for fatty food. Its the hardest period of this program. Dont you ever give up! If you feel hungry every now and then.. PLS.. EAT! dont let it be hungry.. have some apples or penuts.. And if you really cant take it... Just eat whatever you want.. but make sure just little. STAY AWAY FROM OIL if possible (little is ok). Your body is getting used to it and its like some sort of a response.

The protein drink is very important, its builds/restores 80% of lean muscle and gives you energy while removing the fat. Drinking alot of water after the exercise is also a key point.. as all your fat is wasted through Urination. So try getting used to it. I myself dont do it perfectly sometimes.. Every after 2-3 weeks i'll have my food/non exercise week where i'll eat junk food exmp. KFC,Mcdonalds and stuff.. but only for 2-3 days and stop. this helps actually, not health wise but mentaly.. so i wont have Crazy Cravings later that month.But think about it, its much better than what you used to be.

Bonus Results would be losing my sinus problem.. i've had it for quite sometime.. its not bad.. but i had hard time waking up in the morning.. when you sweat i guess.. it kinda helps.. even your facial skin.. look much better.

Ok guys, Make sure turn on some music during exercise, if dont like jogging at a place, try dancing ( any dance ). This all i can help you with at the moment, the main thing is that i lost 8 kilos in 2 months. Makes me look better as well. So you guys dont give up ok? AND people who are under 20 years old.. dont follow this program... its not for you, Women, i hope this method helps you as well.. Tk care now, Astalavista and AllahUAbha!

PS: Ask me for more info.

Spaghetti Bolognese Neo Style LOL :D

neo440 — Tue, 25 Mar 2008 12:09:34 +0000

Ok, this is like my own version of spaghetti bolognese.. its one of those things that i know how to cook. ok, lets get to the ingredients.

WHAT YOU NEED

Any Kinda Pasta (i prefer spagetti) doesn't matter what brand.

Cheddar Cheese (i prefer Kraft / cheesdale) doesn't matter really. packs of 6 or 10 (slices)

Butter (i prefer Buttercup / ACS) check your local listings for brands hehe.. 200-300g packs.

Olive Oil - Any brand. Virgin would be good but expensive.

Mixed ITALIAN herbs ( i use McCormick / Masterfood) Both Australian. Make sure its ITALIAN herbs not "mixed herbs" makes difference in aroma and taste.

At least 3-4 whole Red Onions, not Bombay Onions.

At least 1 whole Garlic. (can add more if you want)

Minced Meat - (best would be beef, but then chicken or other is fine) make sure its fresh. 300-400 grams is enough i guess. make it more if you like it chunky.

Tomato Puree ( i use Deutchchef ) again, check local listings for brands. You probably need about a 100g can. Keep extra 20-30 gram cans. (incase)

Fresh Tomatoes. About 2-3 of them.

Finaly the right Pots and Pans to get you going.

THE METHOD

1- Red Onion - peel the skin off and cut them to average small pieces. not too small.

2- Garlic - peel the skin off, and smash them good old garlic in to absolute small pieces, smash, squash let all that anger and frustration go.. i like it like that hehehe..

3- Heat up your cooking pan and pour some olive oil in it.. dont heat up the oil too long as olive oils get burned very fast . Average Degree. Maybe 3-4-5 minutes.

4- put in the smashed, squashed Garlic in and stir it up gooooood.... for 2-3 minutes.

5- now the Onions, put them in stir them as well.. onions are tough buggers.. so stir them for at least about 6-7 minutes untill you get that cooked onion aroma.

6- now the minced meat and tomato puree. Put them in together and make sure to stir them nicely. You do it as thick or liquid like as you want. dont pour water.

7- Put them tomatoes in.. tomatoes are 90% water based so dont put too much of it as I like it thick. Stir them for at least 4-5 minutes. turn up the heat if you have to.. you can see the meat getting cooked.

8- put in the Mixed Italian Herbs, I usually use almost half bottle of it (small bottle) cos i like it hardcore and strong herbs taste. This you can control actually. Put in some, stir it and leave it (close the pan) 5-6 minutes. Open the pan taste your bolognese sauce. See if you like it. Add salt as you wish.. they key thing is tasting it. Keep an eye from time to time and stir it good.. it will spill out cause of the heat.. so watch your hands. Keep stirring it so it wont spill out. this might take some time as the meat needs to be cooked... so make sure to check. (approximately 15-20 minutes) NOTE: minced meat are easily cooked, so dont over cook it as it wont taste good)

9- after the meat is half cooked, put in at least 10-20 grams of butter inside and stir it up good. ( try 10g first, see and taste if you like it ) then you can add on more if you want. But remember not too much.. it will spoil the whole sauce.

10- Put them cheddar cheese slices.. You can go up to 6-7 slices if you want, it doesnt really matter.. they only make the sauce taste good, cheesy and chunky. But dont over do it okay.. Cheddar Cheese slices contains some good ammount of salt.. so if you put too many inside.. it will make the sauce salty..

These are the final moments.. keep stirring all of them together untill they taste yummy.. ( dont worry, you wont be too dissapointed with this recipe ) maybe first time slightly.. but it wont taste bad. Trust me on this. I got many compliments with this recipe from both friends and family. The key thing for me is the italian herbs.. the more the tastier but not the whole bottle. try to control it.. as you will get used to it. Well, Hey Presto! your done i guess.. lets get to preparing the Spaghetti.

PREPARING THE SPAGHETTI

Heat up pan with Water and add some salt. Wait for the water to boil up then put them Spaghetti in. Easy way to check if spaghetti is cooked or not is. After 10 minutes of boiling it in the water, Take 1 piece out and check the end of it, If its not cooked, There will be a white spot.. If it is cooked.. then there wont be any.. You'll get used to it

Get a bowl (size depending on how much spaghetti you've cooked ) spread some butter in it or olive oil ( this to prevent Sticky Spaghetti sittuation, they are very dry once u take them out of water).

SERVING

Style 1 - Put the spaghetti in the bowl and pour all the Bolognese Sauce inside and stir them nicely. let it cool down for sometime and then you can enjoy you Spaghetti Bolognese in no time.

Style 2 - Have them sepparately - the sauce and the spaghetti.

I love style one as it gives a good mixture of spagehtti and sauce. But the choice is yours.

Alrite now, i hope i've sattisfied you guys with what i've got to offer. Tk Care now and good luck cooking. allahUabha.

Hello from Raleigh

walterx4 — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:08:13 +0000

Hello everyone.

My name is Holly. I live in Raleigh, NC, USA with my husband of almost 22 years. We have two sons, Robbie (a freshman at NC State University) and Steven (a freshman at Raleigh Charter HS). Steven belongs to the Baha'i club at school and we are leaving tonight to go on a field trip to Wilmette. My first time there. I am a second generation Baha'i and my husband is Methodist. Life would be so much easier if he was Baha'i also, but c'est la vie.

I have two sisters, one who is older and the other is my twin. They are both Baha'i too.

I am happy to find this site and I hope to contribute and maybe find some people who I've lost touch with.

Does anyone know about another set of twins, name Mehrdad and Mehrzad (sp?).

Thank you.